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>1 CI I GU, 

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

VOLUME II. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

JYEPOOR TO AJMERE. 

Climate — Government— City — Palace— Durbar — Presents from the Ran- 
nee — Revenues — Umeer — Lake — Great Palace and Fort — Death of the 
Soubahdar — Departure from Jyepoor — Manners of the Rajpoots — Child- 
ren of the Sun — Salt Lake — Opium— Nuptial Procession — Message of 
the Rannee - - - - - - - 3 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

AJMERE TO NEEMUCH. 

Ajmere — Remarkable Fortress — Mussulman place of Pilgrimage — Encamp- 
ment of Brinjarrees — Nusseerabad — Bhats and Charuns — Captain Todd 
— Boolees — Bheel manner of Fishing — Bheels — Ranah of Oodeypoor — 
Chittore— Anecdote of Rannee — Marble Tower — Night Blindness - 25 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

NEEMUCH TO BARODA. 

Neemuch — Character of Rajpoots and Bheels — Good effects of British rule 
— Boras — Confirmation — Pertaubghur — Manner of collecting Opium — 
Heat, and parched state of the Country — Festival of the Hoolee — Bheel 
Huts — Palace of Banswarra — Murder of Female Infants — Visit from the 
Rawul — Jain Temple — Sham-fight of Bheels — Visit from the Rajah of 
Barreah — Dreadful Famine — Brinjarrees - - - - 54 



CHAPTER XXV. 

BARODA TO BOMBAY. 

Entrance into Baroda — Namdar Khan — Cantonment — Church — Character 
of the Guicwar — Consecration of the Church — Visit to the Guicvvar — 
Visits from Natives — Guicwar returns the Visit — Departure from Baroda 
— Crossing the Mhye — Kholees — Swaamee Narain — Hot Winds — Inter- 
view with Swaamee Narain — Arrival at Kairah — Insalubrity of Climate 
— Jain Temple — Departure from Kairah — Difficulty in crossing the 
Mhye — Broach — Banyan Tree on an Island in the Nerbudda— Surat — 
Embarkation — Arrival at Bombay - - - - 94 



\ o o 9 f 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

BOMBAY. 

Island of Elephanta — Salsette — Gorabunder — Bassein — Cave—Temple of 
Kennery— Pariel— Oran Outang— Journey to Poonah— Ghats— Cave at 
Carlee — Poonah— Conquest and Government of the Deckan Consecra- 
tion of the Church at Tannah— Mr. Elphinstone — Description of the 
Island of Bombay — Departure - 23g 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Journal of a Tour in Ceylon - - - . _ jgo, 

. CHAPTER XXVIII. 

CALCUTTA TO S ADR AS. 

Voyage — Invalid Officers and Soldiers from Rangoon — Catamarans — Ma- 
dras — Schools — Native Christians — Visit to Prince Azeem Khan — Sir 
Thomas Munro — St. Thomas's Mount — Maha-Balipoor — Sadras 203 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



To the Right Hon. Charles W. Williams Wynn, Oct. 29, 1823 - 217 

To the Same, Dec. 1, 1823 - - - - - - 223 

To Miss Dod, Dec. 15, 1823 225 

To the Very Rev. the Dean of St. Asaph, Dec. 16, 1823 - - 228 

To R. J. Wilmot Horton, Esq. Dec. 1823 - - - . 232 

To John Thornton, Esq. Jan. 9, 1824 - - - - 236 

To the Honourable Mrs. Douglas, Jan. 10, 1824 - 237 

To Mrs. Heber, Jan. 25, 1824 - 242 

To the Very Rev. the Dean of St. Asaph, Jan. 27, 1824 - - 243 

To Sir Robert H. English, Bart. Jan. 27, 1824 - - 249 

To the Rev. E. T. S. Hornby, Feb. 5, 1824 - - - 250 

To Miss Dod, Feb. 26, 1824 ----- 252 

To the Right Hon. Charles W. Williams Wynn, May 27, 1824 - 254 

To Mrs. R. Heber, June 28, 1824 ----- 256 

To the Same, July 10, 1824 - - - - - 257 

To the Right Hon. Charles W. Williams Wynn, July 13, 1824 - 258 

To Mrs. R. Heber, July 16, 1824 - - - - - 260 

To the Same, July 18, 1824 - - - - - 261 

To the Same, July 19, 1824 - 263 

To the Same, July 21, 1824 264 

To Miss Stowe, July, 1824 ------ 265 

To Mrs. R. Heber, July 28, 1824 ----- 267 

To Lieutenant Colonel Alexander, &c. &c. &c. Sept. 24, 1824 - 268 

To Mrs. R. Hebej, Sept. 29, 1824 - I- 269 

To the Rev. C. Cholmondeley, and Mrs. Cholmondeley, Oct. 19, 1824 ib. 

To Mrs. R. Heber, Dec. 1 1824 - - > _ 273 

To the Same Dec. 10, 1824 274 

To the Same, Jan. 22, 1825 ----- 275 

To the Same, Jan. 28, 1825 - - - - - 276 

To the Same, Feb. 18, 1825 ----- 278 



^ CONTENTS, 



To the Right Hon. Charles W. Williams Wynn, March 1, 1825 - 292 

To Mrs. R. Heber, March 13,1825 - .- - - - 284 

To R. J. Wilmot Horton, Esq. March 1, 1825 - - - 285 

To the Same, May 10, 1825 - - - - - 298 

To John Thornton, Esq. May 12, 1825 300 

To the Right Honourable Lord Grenville, June 1, 1825 - - 307 

To the Honourable Mrs. Douglas, June 7, 1825 - 309 

To the Reverend J. J. Blunt, June 10, 1825 - - - 311 

To Mrs. Heber, Sept. 27, 1825 ... 214 

To the Rev. John Mayor, Vicar of Shawbury, in Shropshire, Sept. 28, 1 825 316 

To Richard Heber, Esq. Dec. 15,1825 318 

To the Right Hon. Lord Grenville, Dec. 24, 1825 321 

To the Reverend Deocar Schmidt, Dec. 23, 1825 322 

To Mrs. R. Heber, Feb. 5, 1826. - - ... 325 

To His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, Feb. 15, 1826 - 326 

To Mrs. R. Heber, Feb. 27, 1826 337 

To the Same, March 2, 1826 - - - - - 339 

To the Same, March 16, 1826 ... 340 

To the Right Honourable C. W. Williams Wynn, March 21, 1826 - 341 

To the Rev. Charles Shipley, March 28, 1826 346 

To R.J. Wilmot Horton, Esq. April 1,1826- 347 



APPENDIX. 



Circular of Mar Ignatius Georgius, Patriarch of Antioch, to the British 
Authorities in India, recommending to their protection his Envoy, Mar 
Athanasius. ------ 353 

To Mar Athanasius,Dec. 1825 ----- 355 

Letter from Father Abraham of Jerusalem (an Envoy sent with visitorial 
Powers, by the Armenian Patriarch of Ararat, to the Eastern Churches 
of that Nation in India) to Mar Athanasius ; sent with Bishop Heber's 
Syriac Letter, by the hands of Mr. Doran. Jan. 6, 1826 - - 357 

The second Letter to Mar Athanasius, March 22, 1826 - - 360 

Letter to Mar Philoxenus, March 27, 1826 t 362 

Copy of a Letter from the Reverend Thomas Robinson to Mar Ignatius 

Georgius, Patriarch of Antioch, 1826 - 364 
Extracts from a Letter to the Reverend William Roy, Secretary to the Ma- 
dras Diocesan Committee of the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel, Oct. 19, 1826 ------ 370 

Index - 375 

Glossary ------- - 393 



NARRATIVE 

OF 

A JOURNEY, &rc 



CHAPTER XXII. 

JYEPOOR TO AJMERE. 

CLIMATE GOVERNMENT CITY PALACE DURBAR PRESENTS FROM 

THE RANNEE REVENUES UMEER LAKE GREAT PALACE AND 

FORT DEATH OF THE SOUBAHDAR DEPARTURE FROM JYEPOOR 

MANNERS OF THE RAJPOOTS CHILDREN OF THE SUN SALT LAKE 

OPIUM NUPTUAL PROCESSION MESSAGE FROM THE RANNEE. 

The climate of Jyepoor is described as less disagreeable than 
I should have expected. The rains are never heavy, the cold 
months are bracing and healthy, and the hot winds, though fierce 
during the day, generally cease at night. The court and territory 
are in a very distracted state. The Rannee's new minister is hated 
by a majority of her subjects, and her authority, in consequence, 
is very uncertain through the greatest part of her possessions. The 
people into whose hands she had thrown herself, hate and fear the 
English, and a great proportion of her " Thakoors," or nobles, 
shut up in their mountain castles, pay no tribute, obey no com- 
mands, and declare that they will obey none till the young Raja, 
now a child of six years old, is placed on the musnud, and sur- 
rounded by a council such as they can confide in. Though, there- 
fore, the Rannee has in the present instance carried her point with 
our government, and obtained its concurrence to a ministry of her 
own choice, there is little probability of matters going on smoothly 
much longer between us, or even if the British were out of the 
case, of the present people being long able to hold the reins of 
government. Colonel Raper said that he could easily believe that 
it was want of power which made her vakeel fail in procuring us 
supplies, and in compelling the attendance of the horsemen, and 

Vol. II.— 1 



i 



JYEPOOR. 



he regretted to say that he did not know where to look for more 
serviceable troops, or a better proveditore. He advised me, 
therefore, to take on Skinner's horse to Nusseerabad, as my best 
dependance in case of need. Of any serious necessity for them 
there was, thank Heaven, very little likelihood, inasmuch as, how- 
ever unruly the country, they are all in awe of the numerous 
cantonment of Nusseerabad, nor was my present escort unequal 
to protect us from any ordinary plunderers. 

January 29. — This morning Colonel Raper took me to see the 
city and palace, as well as to present me in Durbar. The city is 
a verv remarkable and striking one. B^ing all the work of one 
sovereign, Jye Singh, it is on a regular plan, with one very wide 
street crossed at right angles by three others, with a square in the 
centre of the town which serves as a market-place. The houses 
are generally two stories high, but some three and four, with 
ornamented windows and balconies, and many of them finely 
carved. They are interspersed with some handsome temples in 
the same style with those of Benares, and in the centre of the 
town, and adjoining the palace, is a very noble tower or minaret 
of, I should suppose, 200 feet high. The town is tolerably clean, 
but a great part of the houses are in a state of decay. Still, how- 
ever, it has a population of 60,000 souls. The palace, with its 
gardens, occupies about one-sixth part of the city. It presents to 
the streets an extremely high front of seven or eight stories, dimin- 
ishing in the centre to something like a pediment, and flanked by 
two towers of equal height topped with open cupolas. Within 
are two spacious courts and many smaller ones, surrounded by 
cloisters of stone pillars, except in the verandas leading to the 
principal rooms, which are of marble. The gardens, which I was 
first taken to see, are extensive, and, in their way, extremely beau- 
tiful, full of fountains, cypresses, palm-trees, and flowering shrubs, 
with a succession of terraces and alcoves, none of them, singly 
taken, in good taste, but altogether extremely rich and striking. 
Two very large and handsome tanks terminate the grounds to- 
wards the north. The garden is surrounded by a high embattled 
wall, having a terrace at the top like that of Chester, and beneath 
it a common passage, (as one of the ministers of state, who accom- 
panied us, told me,) for the Zennana to walk in. I was introduced 
to some of these ministers, or "sirdars," during my progress 
through the palace, under their several official names of"Mouch- 
tar," " Bukshee," &c. &c. Most of them were tall, good-looking 
men, in very handsome and becoming dresses. The whole esta- 
blishment of the palace and gardens seemed well kept up, consid- 
erably better than that of Lucknow, and every thing much 
exceeded my expectation except the military show, which was 
absolutely nothing. There were two or three police men in the 

from 

Mrs. Etta K Winter 
5«pt, 20 1932 



* 



PALACE AT JYEPOOR. 5 

gate of the city, and four or five, (I do not think there were more,) 
lounging fellows with shields slung over their shoulders, and lances 
lying near them, in different parts of the out-buildings. I was 
surprised at so poor a muster among the warlike and turbulent 
Rajpoots, but recollected that in a country where every citizen 
and cultivator is a soldier, on ordinary occasions every soldier will 
be a cultivator or citizen. The Resident's suwarrs and my own 
five men, together with a little guard of seven orderly sepoys, 
who, as usual on state occasions, followed me, and as many of my 
servants who chose to see the sight, were permitted without scru- 
ple to attend us through all the garden, and most of the lower 
apartments of the palace, till, on ascending to an upper story, 
those who had swords or other arms, were requested either to 
stay below or to surrender their weapons. The ascents throughout 
the palace are not by stairs, but by inclined planes, of very easy 
slope, and certainly less fatiguing than the European style. The 
passages are all narrow and mean, and the object in the whole 
building seems more to surprise by the number, the intricacy, and 
detail of the rooms and courts, than by any apartments of large size 
and magnificent proportions. A great part of the windows are 
glazed with small panes of stained or plain glass, in latticed frames 
of white marble. The stained glass was said to be from Venice. 
These upper rooms, which are in fact a part of the Zennana, have 
their floors chiefly covered with stuffed white cotton quilts, over 
which, in certain places, sitringees are placed, and, in the more 
costly rooms, small Persian carpets. There are very strong wooden 
doors in different parts of the building, whose hinges and locks 
are as rude as those of a prison, but the suites of apartments 
themselves, are only divided by large striped curtains, hung over 
the arched doorways. The ceilings are generally low, and the 
rooms dark and close ; both the walls and ceilings are, however, 
splendidly carved and painted, and some of the former are en- 
tirely composed of small looking-glasses, in fantastic frames of 
chunam mixed with talc, which have the appearance of silver 
till closely examined. The subjects of the paintings are almost 
entirely mythological, and their style of colouring, their atti- 
tudes, and the general gloomy silence and intricacy of the place, 
reminded me frequently of Belzoni's model of the Egyptian 
tomb. 

After a long suite of these strange rooms, we were taken into 
a very striking and beautiful apartment where breakfast was pre- 
pared for us. It was a small pavilion with arches on either side, 
opening into two small cloistered courts, the one filled by a beau- 
tiful cold bath about thirty feet square,the other by a little flower 
garden divided, parterre wise, with narrow winding paths of 
white marble, with a jet d'eau in every winding, to the number, 



6 



PALACE AT JYEPOOR. 



I should think, of fifteen or twenty, which remained playing all 
the while we were at breakfast. Nothing could be prettier or 
more refreshing than the sight and sound of these tiny fountains, 
though I did not think the effect improved when all at once seve- 
ral of the principal ones began to throw up water tinged with 
some yellow dye. It was evidently much admired by the na- 
tives, and reminded me of " the golden water, 1 ' which, together 
with " the talking bird" and the " singing tree," cost the princess 
in the Arabian tale so many labours to obtain. For our breakfast 
Colonel Raper had sent the usual requisites, but the " Maha-Ran- 
nee," or " Majee," (lady mother) as she is also called, sent us 
some specimens of Hindoo cookery, abundant in ghee, spice, and 
sugar, but without the garlic which forms so essential a part of 
Mussulman luxury. I tasted one of the messes, which was of 
rice, raisins, and some green sweetmeat, strongly scented with 
rose-water and seasoned with cinnamon, and thought it very good. 
The others were, apparently, kid or mutton minced small with 
rice and covered with a very rich brown sauce, " a thing to dream 
of, not to tell," and which if eaten at night one should scarcely 
fail to dream of. 

After breakfast, and till the hour of durbar arrived, we visited 
more of the buildings. In passing along the garden wall, I ought 
to have observed before, we were shewn five or six elephants in 
training for a fight. Each was separately kept in a small paved 
court, with a little litter, but very dirty. They were all what is 
called " must," that is, fed on stimulating substances to make 
them furious, and all shewed in their eyes, their gaping mouths, 
and the constant motion of their trunks, signs of fever and -rest- 
lessness. Their mohouts seemed to approach them with great 
caution, and on hearing a step they turned round as far as their 
chains would allow and lashed fiercely with their trunks. I was 
moved and disgusted at the sight of so noble creatures thus mad- 
dened and diseased by the absurd cruelty of man, in order that 
tiiey might for his diversion inflict fresh pain and injuries on each 
other. Two of them were very large, and all sleek and cor- 
pulent. 

The other apartments through which we were conducted 
nearly resembled those we had seen before breakfast. We had, 
however, a noble panoramic view of the town from the top of the 
palace. Indeed I have seen few places of which a finer pano- 
rama might be made. From thence we returned to a lower 
court, in the centre of which, raised by a few steps, is a noble 
open pavilion, with marble pillars richly carved, rather inferior 
in size, but in other respects fully equal to the hall of audience 
in the castle of Delhi. The interior contains an oblong vaulted 
hall, surrounded by a very spacious verandah, and its pavement 



i 



COURT OF JYEPOOR. 



7 



covered with sitringees and carpets, where we found all the 
ministers whom I have already mentioned, and some others, 
seated in a semi-circle. They rose to receive us, and the 
" Mouchtar," or prime minister, introduced to me those whom I 
had not yet met. Among these were the " Gooroo," or spiritual 
adviser of the Rannee, a man extremely blamed for all the out- 
rageous and absurd conduct which she has pursued, and a very 
remarkable person at whom Colonel Raper looked with some sur- 
prise, and whom, he afterwards said, he had never seen or heard 
of before. He was apparently a Mussulman, a very tall hard- 
featured man, with a dark and gloomy expression of face, which 
made me think of Captain Rolando in Gil Bias. His name I did 
not perfectly hear, but in conversation they called him the Nawab. 
He was armed with a sword, shield, and dagger, all splendid in 
their way ; his clothes were handsome but plain, and his whole 
figure and equipment made me set him down, I believe correctly, 
as a Patan mercenary leader, for whom these troublesome times 
had obtained employment. The Mouchtar I had now a better 
opportunity of observing than before. He is a shortish man, 
but very stoutly built, with what I thought a good countenance 
and frank rough manners. 

A very formal old gentleman, the marshal of the palace, now 
got us all to our seats. Colonel Raper in the middle, myself at 
his right hand, and the minister and the Nawab beyond me ; the 
rest were arranged on the left and behind us. We sat cross-leg- 
ged on the carpet, there being no chairs, and kept our hats on ; I 
was mortified to find that the Rannee never appeared even be- 
hind the Purdah, though we were told she was looking through a 
latticed window at some distance in front. The usual questions, 
of how I liked Jyepoor, whither I was going, and when I left 
Calcutta, followed. The Nawab talked a good deal, and seemed 
to be doing his best to make a favourable impression on the Resi- 
dent. I doubt whether he succeeded. For my own part the idea 
of Captain Rolando faded away, and was replaced by that of the 
bold Alsatian Captain Culpepper. Some dancing-girls came in, 
whose performances differed in no respect from those which I 
had seen at Bullumghur. Some very common looking shawls, a 
turban, necklace, &c. were now brought in as presents from the 
Rannee to me, which were followed by two horses and an ele- 
phant, of which she also requested my acceptance. I looked 
round on Colonel Raper in some embarrassment, which he re- 
lieved by telling me that all was done according to rule, and that 
I should not be much the richer nor the Rannee the poorer for 
what passed that day. I, of course, however, expressed my thanks 
to the Mouchtar in as good Hindoostanee as I was able. Mutual 
wishes were expressed for health, happiness, and a continuance 



COURT OF JYEPOOR, 



of friendship between the Company and the Court of Jyepoor, 
and after embracing all the ministers a second time, we took our 
leave, mounted our elephants, and returned to the Residency, the 
Rannee's presents going in procession before us. Of these pre- 
sents it appeared that the elephant was lame, and so vicious that 
few people ventured to go near him. One of the horses was a 
very pretty black, but he also turned out as lame as a cat, while 
the other horse was in poor condition, and, at least, as my people 
declared, thirty years old. Colonel Raper said, however, that 
these animals would do more than cover the fees which it would 
be proper to pay the Rannee's servants, and which the Company, 
according to the usual practice, would discharge for me. In fact 
the native powers understand perfectly well that presents of any 
great value are, on these occasions, thrown away. They have it 
published in the " Acbars, 11 or native newspapers, that such or 
such a distinguished personage came to pay his respects at the 
Court of Jyepoor, and that the Rannee testified her pleasure at 
his arrival, by the gift of an elephant, two beautiful horses, and 
two trays of ornaments and shawls, and thus the ends are answer- 
ed of making known the rank of the visitant, of setting forth the 
Rannee's liberality, and above all, of hinting to her subjects and 
neighbours the good terms she is on with the British Government. 
But all these objects they are, of course, glad to obtain at as 
slight an expense as possible. 

In the course of this day I had a good deal of conversation with 
Colonel Raper on the history and intrigues of this little court, the 
splendour of which has surprised me; but which in its morals and 
political wisdom appears to be on a level not much higher than 
that of Abyssinia. 

The Rajas of Jyepoor were for a long time the most wealthy 
and powerful of all the Rajpoot states. Their territory is still the 
largest, and their revenue used to be reckoned at a crore of rupees 
(at the present rate of exchange less than a million pounds ster- 
ling) annually. They were generally on pretty good terms with 
the Emperors of Delhi, and though nominally vassals, they always 
preserved a state of real independance of their authority. The 
Maharatta conquests blighted all their prosperity; the Raja was 
so much weakened as to lose all authority over his own Thakoors, 
twenty or thirty lacks was the whole amount of his revenue, and 
this was growing less under the almost annual scourge of the 
Pindarries, of Jeswunt Row Holcar, and, above all, of his Gene- 
ral Ameer Khan. Even before the conquest of Lord Hastings, 
the late Raja of Jyepoor had, as it is said, shewn great anxiety to 
obtain the protection of Britain, but from the jarring members 
of which his state is composed, it was one of the last which in any 
regular way acceded to the confederacy, the Thakoors keeping 



COURT OF JYEPOOR. 



9 



close in their castles like feudal chiefs, alike averse to any inter- 
ference either of our government or their own, and chiefly occu- 
pied in making war on each other, leading plundering parties into 
the neighbouring states, and picking the bones which more potent 
devourers left behind. The principality was, in fact, in a state of 
anarchy as wretched and as bloody as Circassia at the present 
day, or England in the time of Ivanhoe, with the additional mise- 
ry that foreign invaders were added to domestic feudal tyrants. 
This anarchy has never yet been completely put a stop to in the 
remoter provinces, but it had in the greater part of the kingdom 
been materially abated by British arms and influence. The coun- 
try had become safe to travel through, the peasants slept in their 
beds in peace, the Thakoors began to come to court again and pay 
their tribute, and the revenue had greatly improved, when the 
Raja died, five or six years ago, leaving no son, but one of his 
wives pregnant and near the time of her delivery. This at least 
was said, though many of the Thakoors declared it was an impo- 
sition. A child, however, was produced, and its reputed mother 
became regent, chiefly by the influence of a man of high rank and 
respectable character, who is generally known by his hereditary 
title of " Rawul," and who possessed in a great degree the confi- 
dence of the English government. He became Minister tinder 
the Regent, and the improvement of the country continued pro- 
gressive. He, however, paid his nominal mistress but little defer- 
ence, and she soon forgot the protection which he had afforded to 
herself and her son. Nor was this all. The Rawul had the mis- 
fortune to find out an intrigue between one of the Rannees and an 
adventurer from Rohilcund who filled some post about the palace. 
He banished the paramour, and the lady never forgave him, but 
has ever since been urging the Ma-jee to the most violent mea- 
sures against him, in which she has been backed by the Gooroo, 
a very profligate Brahmin, who has always used his influence 
with the Ma-jee to bad purposes. Two years ago an attempt was 
made to get rid of the Rawul and bring in the present minister, a 
Thakoor of extremely bad character, who had been very recently 
in open rebellion and had stood a siege against a British force. 
Against his appointment, however, the British government strong- 
ly remonstrated. The Rawul was maintained in his place and 
his opponent banished, till the evil reports which prevailed last 
year in all these provinces respecting the situation of our empire, 
encouraged the Rannee to venture on the object which she had at 
heart. Her first step was to attack, with an armed force, the 
house of the Rawul in Jyepoor, and he very narrowly escaped 
with his life to the Residency. She then got together a considera- 
ble number of troops, put the city in a state of defence, and as- 
sumed so martial an air, that Colonel Raper, with his small force 



10 



JYEPOOR, 



of sepoys, his wife and children, and his friend the Rawul, found 
it necessary to retreat from the Residency to a position near Ban- 
crote, about nine miles from Jyepoor. The Ma-jee seemed fully 
bent on carrying matters to the utmost length; she invited over 
her favourite, then living at Agra, and treated with much co% 
tempt the proposal made her by the Resident, that she shoul^be 
at liberty to name any minister but that one who was so personally 
obnoxious. She found, however, that her force was less than she 
probably expected. The majority of the Thakoors were not so 
fond either of her or the new minister as to run any risk for 
either : many were personally attached to the Rawul, and, had 
they been encouraged, would have joined Colonel Raper's camp. 
The ill reports from Calcutta died away, and none of the neigh- 
bouring Rajpoot principalities appeared inclined to side with her, 
while the occupation of Mhow by the Bombay troops, placed a 
considerable addition of force at Sir David Ochterlony's disposal, 
and old Ameer Khan, who, though shorn of his ancient power, still 
occupies a considerable jaghire south of Neemuch, made an eager 
offer of his services to the British government to invade a country 
with which, as the hoary ruffian truly said, "he was well acquaint- 
ed!" Colonel Raper, accordingly, did not think that she either 
could or would have continued to hold out; but Sir David Och- 
terlony, probably in consequence of directions from Calcutta, 
thought it best to give up alf the points in dispute, rather than run 
the risk of a new war in Western and Central India. The Rawul 
retired to his estates and castles, and the Rannee, with her new 
minister, is permitted to try and govern the country, a task which 
she will probably soon be found unequal to, the favourite being, 
though a man of courage, of no character or talent, and the Rannee 
as ignorant and passionate as a child. She is now about thirty 
years old, of humble extraction, was not the principal wife of the 
late Raja, and had no children in the former years of her marriage. 
Under such circumstances it is probable, that a short time ago a 
civil war would have arisen in Jyepoor, and it is certain that, in 
such an event, the Maharattas would not have been slow to take 
further advantage of their troubles. The chance now is, that the 
British will be called on to mediate between the parties ; but be- 
fore this takes place, some further mischief may be looked for. 
During the late scenes of intrigue and confusion, the Rannee's 
confidential Gooroo made a journey to Agra and Delhi, and Colo- 
nel Raper has ascertained that he drew large sums from his mis- 
tress, with the avowed object of bribing the principal servants of 
the Company to favour her wishes. It is most probable, Colonel 
Raper thinks, that this crafty Brahmin put all the money into his 
own pocket ; but, from what I have heard of the practices of the 
moonshees of public men, I cannot help suspecting that some of 



JYEPOOR, 



11 



it. at least, has redounded to their advantage. At all events, it is 
painful to find that the natives of this country continue to think 
us venal. 

January 30. — I read prayers and preached at the Residency, 
and christened Colonel Raper's little girl. 

January 31. — I went this morning with Colonel Raperand Dr. 
Simpson, the Residency Surgeon, who, with Mrs. Raper, are the 
only European residents in Jyepoor, to Umeer, the ancient cap- 
ital of this principality, till Jye Singh built the present city in the 
plain. We passed through the principal streets of Jyepoor, being 
joined at the palace gate by two of the ministers whom I had met 
there the Saturday before, and one of whom was Killedar of the 
place which we were going to visit. The Rajpoots are not such 
shewy figures on horseback as the Mussulmans, or even the Jats ; 
these men rode well, however, and had fine horses, winch, with 
their long»red shawls, sabres, and flowing robes, as well as their 
numerous attendants, made up a striking picture. 

We passed together through the opposite gate of the city, the 
uniformity of which throughout is very striking. My companions 
told me that it was laid out in quarters, or wards, according to 
the rules of the Shaster ; one being for the Thakoors, another for 
the Brahmins, a third for the ordinary Rajpoots, a fourth for the 
caste of Kayts, or writers, a fifth for the Bunyans, or traders, and 
a sixth for the Gaowalas, or cow-keepers, while the seventh is 
occupied by the palace. After leaving the city we proceeded by 
a wide sandy road, through a succession of gardens and garden- 
houses, some of the latter of which are very handsome, to the banks 
of a large lake, covered with water-fowl, and with a small island 
in the midst, on which were the ruins of a palace. The mere sup- 
plies the stream which we had passed in our way up the ghat ; it 
has on this side every appearance of being a natural sheet of water ; 
its banks are more woody and wild than any thing which I had 
seen since I left Kemaoon, and the steep and rugged road by which 
we ascended the hill beyond it, contributed to raise my expecta- 
tion of a beautiful view from the top. 

This road led us through an ancient gate-way in an embattled 
and turretted wall, which connected the two hills, like that which 
I described on the other side of Jyepoor, and within we found a 
street like that also, of temples and old buildings of the same cha- 
racter, one of which was pointed out to me as a shrine, whither 
the young Raja is carried weekly, to pay his devotions, and ano- 
ther as the house where he puts up his horses, and reposes on suGh 
occasions. Beyond was a still steeper ascent to a second gate, 
which introduced us to a very wild and romantic valley, with a 
small lake at the bottom, — the crests of the hills on either side 
crowned with walls and towers, their lower parts all rock and 

Vol. II.— 2 



UMEER. 



wood interspersed with ruined buildings, in front, and on the mar- 
gin of the lake, a small ruinous town, overgrown with trees, and 
intermingled with towers and temples, and over it, but a little to 
the left hand, a noble old fortified palace, connected by a long line 
of wall and tower, with a very large castle on the highest part of 
the hill. We now descended the ghat by a similar road to that 
which had conducted us thither, among some fine old trees, frag- 
ments of rock, and thickets of thorny underwood, till we reached 
the town, which almost entirely consisted of temples, and had few 
inhabitants but grim and ghastly Yogis, with their hair in elf-knots, 
and their faces covered with chalk, sitting naked and hideous, 
like so many ghoules, amid the tombs and ruined houses. A nar- 
row, winding street, led us through these abodes of superstition, 
under a dark shade of peepul-trees, till we found ourselves on ano- 
ther steep ascent, paved with granite, and leading to the palace. 
We wound along the face of the hill, through, I think, three gothic 
gateways, alighted in a large moss-grown quadrangle, surrounded 
by what seemed to be barracks and stables, and followed our 
guides up a broad and long flight of steps, through another richly 
ornamented gateway, into the interior courts of the building, which 
contain one very noble hall of audience, a pretty little garden with 
fountains, and a long succession of passages, cloisters, alcoves, and 
small and intricate apartments, many of them extremely beautiful, 
and enjoying from their windows, balconies and terraces, one of 
the most striking prospects which can be conceived. The carv- 
ing in stone and marble, and the inlaid flowers and ornaments in 
some of these apartments, are equal to those of Delhi and Agra, 
and only surpassed by the beauties of the Tage-mahal. My com- 
panions, none of whom had visited Umeer before, all declared 
that, as a whole, it was superior to the castle of Delhi. For my- 
self, I have seen many royal palaces, containing larger and more 
stately rooms, — many, the architecture of which was in a purer 
taste, and some which have covered a greater extent of ground, 
(though in this if the fortress on the hill be included, Umeer will 
rank, I think, above Windsor,) — but for varied and picturesque 
effect, for richness of carving, for wild beauty of situation, for the 
number and romantic singularity of the apartments, and the strange- 
ness of finding such a building, in such a place and country, I am 
able to compare nothing with Umeer ; and this, too, was the work 
of Jye Singh ! The ornaments are in the same style, though in a 
better taste, than those of his palace at Jyepoor, and the size and 
number of the apartments are also similar. A greater use has been 
made of stained glass here, or else, from the inaccessible height of 
the window, the glass has remained in better preservation. The 
building is in good repair, but has a solitary and deserted aspect ; 
and as our guide, with his bunch of keys, unlocked one iron- 



PALACE, CASTLE AND TEMPLE. 



13 



clenched door after another, and led lis over terraces, and up 
towers, down steep, dark, sloping passages, and through a long 
succession of little silent courts, and dim vaulted chambers, seen 
only through coloured glass, and made more gorgeously gloomy by 
their carving, gilding, and mirrors, the idea of an enchanted castle 
occurred, I believe, to us all ; and I could not help thinking what 
magnificent use Ariosto or Sir Walter Scott would have made of 
such a building. After all we saw only part of it. Higher up the 
hill was another grim-looking ward, with few external windows, 
but three or four elegantly carved kiosks projecting from its roof, 
and a few cypresses peeping over its walls, which they said was 
the zennana, and not allowed to be seen ; and above this again, 
but communicating by a succession of gates and turrets, was the 
castle which I have mentioned, grimmer and darker still, with 
high towers and machicollated battlements, with a very few orna- 
mented windows, many narrow loop-holes, and one tall minaret 
rising above the whole cluster. The interior of this, of course, 
was not shewn ; indeed, it is what the government of Jyepoor 
considers as their last resource. The public treasure used to 
be laid up here ; and here, it is said, are many state prisoners, 
whose number is likely to be increased if the present rule con- 
tinues. 

On returning to the stable-yard, our conductor asked us if 
we wished to see the temple ? I answered, of course, " any thing 
more that was to be seen," and he turned short and led us some 
little distance up the citadel, then through a dark low arch into a 
small court, where, to my surprise, the first object which met 
my eyes was a pool of blood on the pavement, by which a naked 
man stood with a bloody sword in his hand. The scenes through 
which we had passed were so romantic, that my fancy had almost 
been wound up to expect an adventure, and I felt, I confess, for 
an instant my hand instinctively clench more firmly a heavy Hin- 
doostanee whip I had with me, the butt end of which would, as a $ 
last resource, have been no despicable weapon. The guide, how- 
ever, at the same instant, cautioned me against treading in the 
blood, and told me that a goat was sacrificed here every morning. 
In fact a second glance shewed me the headless body of the poor 
animal lying before the steps of a small shrine, apparently of Kali. 
The brahmin was officiating and tinkling his bell, but it was plain 
to see, from the embarrassment of our guide, that we had intrud- 
ed at an unlucky moment, and we therefore merely cast our eyes 
round the court without going nearer to the altar and its mysteries. 
The guide told us in our way back that the tradition was that, in 
ancient times, a man was sacrificed here every day ; that the custom 
had been laid aside till Jye Singh had a frightful dream, in which 
the destroying power appeared to him and asked him why her 



14 



PRIVATE EXECUTION. 



image was suffered to be dry ? The Raja, afraid to disobey, and 
reluctant to fulfil the requisition to its ancient extent of horror, 
took counsel and substituted a s;oat for the human victim, with 
which the 

Dark goddess of the azure flood, 

Whose robes are wet with infant tears, 

Scull-chaplet wearer, whom the blood 
Of man delights three thousand years, 

was graciously pleased to be contented. 

We were now taken down the hill, outside the fortifications, 
to some baths and summer-houses on the banks of the lake, which 
I should have thought pretty if they had not been much inferior 
to what I had already seen, and we crossed the lake by a narrow 
bridge, from the further end of which I made an attempt to 
sketch the view. Here our horses met us, and we returned home 
all highly gratified, and myself not a little surprised that a place 
so curious and interesting should be so little known, not merely 
in Europe but in India. 

In the course of our homeward ride Colonel Raper told me 
that he had had unpleasant news from the palace. The Rannee 
the night before, without trial, or without so much as assigning a 
reason, murdered one of her female attendants, — a woman who 
bore a fair character, was possessed of considerable wealth, and 
believed, till lately, to stand high in her mistress's confidence and 
good graces. Her wealth was supposed to be her only crime. A 
great alarm had in consequence been excited in the zennana and 
in the city ; and eight other women, chiefly wives and concubines 
of the late Raja, believed themselves also marked out for destruc- 
tion. This atrocity had been perpetrated by the Rannee 's own 
order and in her presence, but Colonel Raper said if the Mouch- 
tar had been himself any thing but a mere ruffian, he would never 
allow such practices to go on, nor would such an order have been 
executed had he been a likely person to resent it. 

With this story on my mind it was with any thing rather than 
a pleasurable sensation^ that I received in the course of the morn- 
ing a present of fruit, sweetmeats, and flowers, with the Ma-jee's 
best wishes for my safe journey, her assurance that her people 
had arranged every thing for my comfort on the road, and her 
hope that our friendship might long continue ! I sent back my 
grateful acknowledgments, which was no more than her due, for 
the kindness and hospitality she had shewn me, and an assurance 
of my prayers, though I did not add, for her amendment. I found 
to-day that her attentions had not been confined to me personally, 
but that she had sent an excellent dinner of sweetmeats, ghee, 
rice, kid, flour, and other Hindoostanee dainties, sufficient as they 



DEATH OF THE SOUBAHDAR, 



15 



told mo, for 100 men, to be divided amongst my servants and 
escort. 

I had intended to proceed the first stage, which is only eight 
miles, this afternoon, but was prevented by seven of my bearers 
taking fright at the reports they heard of the country to the south- 
west, and running off this morning. Seven more were pressed 
by government order to go with me as far as Nusseerabad, and I 
told them that, notwithstanding the manner in which their ser- 
vices were compelled, I should give them the usual pay for the 
journey. I now hoped at all events to get away on Tuesday the 
1st of February, but was again prevented by a very dismal and 
unexpected accident. A little before five in the morning, the 
servants came to me for directions and to say that the good care- 
ful old soubahdar was very ill and unable to leave his tent. I 
immediately put on my clothes and went down to the camp, in my 
way to which they told me that he had been taken unwell at night, 
and that Dr. Smith had given him medicine. They had none of 
them, however, seen him since. I therefore wakened Dr. Smith 
to ask him what was the matter, and was informed that his illness 
was slight, and that he would be able to set off at his usual time. 
I thought it best to go to his tent, and ask him how he was, to 
which he answered that he felt well. . I told him, however, that 
he had better remain quiet, and that his tent and bed might per- 
fectly well go on in the course of the day. He answered in his 
usual manner, " Ucha, ghureeb-purwar," and I left him to see the • 
camels loaded, and to give directions about the manner in which 
I wished the tents to be pitched at our next stage. Shortly after 
seeing that there was some bustle in packing near his tent, 1 went 
up to bid the people make less noise, on which they told me they 
were acting by his orders, and that he had got up and gone to the 
other side of the camp, leaving directions to have his poney sad- 
dled. I was walking away to finish my own dressing when a man 
came running to say that the soubahdar was dying. As he was 
returning to his tent he had fallen down, and I found him in the 
arms of two of his men, apparently in a swoon, but making a 
faint moaning noise. I made them loosen the cloth which was 
wrapped round his head and throat, and bid them sprinkle his 
face with water, while I ran for Dr. Smith, who had been already 
alarmed and came immediately. He opened a vein, and, with 
much humane patience, continued to try different remedies while 
any chance remained ; but no blood flowed, and no sign of life 
could be detected from the time of his coming up, except a feeble 
flutter at the heart which soon ceased. He was at an advanced 
age, at least for an Indian, though apparently hale and robust. I 
felt it a comfort that I had not urged him to any exertion, and 
that in fact I had endeavoured to persuade him to lie still till he 



]6 DEATH OF THE SOUBAHDAR. 

was quite well. But I was necessarily much shocked by the sud- 
den end of one who had travelled with me so far, and whose 
conduct had, in every instance, given me satisfaction. I really 
felt a kindness for him, founded not only on his quiet pleasing 
manners, but his attention to his duty and the confidence which 
I could always place on his word. And it was my intention to 
recommend him for promotion as earnestly as I could to his 
Colonel. Nor, while writing this, can I recollect without a real 
pang his calm countenance and grey hairs, as he sate in his tent 
door telling his beads in an afternoon, or walked with me, as he 
seldom failed to do, through the villages on an evening, with his 
own silver-hilted sabre under his arm, his loose cotton mantle 
folded round him, and his golden necklace and Rajpoot string just 
visible above it. Nobody knew him to be ill during the preced- 
ing day till just before bed-time. He had been with Abdullah 
and Cashiram to the city, to see a pair of shawls of which I meant 
to make him a present on our arrival at Nusseerabad, that being 
the usual or, at least, the most gratifying return which a sepoy 
officer can receive, and had been extremely delighted with the 
knowledge of my intention. He was of Rajpoot caste, and his 
name was Jye Singh, two circumstances which made a strong 
impression on the minds of his comrades, who said w it was a 
strange thing that he had just happened to die in Jye Singh's city, 
and on his return after so many j T ears absence to Rajpootana." 
He left two sons, and a woman who was really his wife and uni- 
versally so considered, but who being of an inferior caste could 
not be regularly joined to him by the Brahminical rites, — a cir- 
cumstance which I rejoiced to hear, as it put the burning herself 
out of the question. He had left her and his boys at Seetapoor, 
but expected to meet them at Nusseerabad. Alas ! how nearly 
had he arrived at the place where he looked forwards to a re- 
union with those whom he loved ! His body was burnt in the 
course of the day, and I had an inventory made of his goods. 
This is the second death, and the fourth separation from illness 
which I have had to regret since the commencement of my 
journey. 

The death of the poor soubahdar led to the question whether 
there would be still time to send on the baggage. All the Mus- 
sulmans pressed our immediate departure, while the Hindoos 
begged that they might be allowed to stay, at least, till sun-set. 
The reasons urged on both sides were very characteristic. The 
former pleading that the place was " unlucky," and that it was 
best to get out of it as soon as possible ; the other that the day 
was unlucky, not only from the melancholy omen which had al- 
ready occurred, but from its being Tuesday, which the votaries 
of Brama regard as unpropitious for the commencement of any 



BUGGEROO— RAJPOOT CAVALRY. 



17 



enterprise. I determined on remaining, not only as, in my opinion, 
more decent and respectful to the memory of a good and aged 
officer, but because the things being already packed up and ready 
to put on the camels, it would be easy to send them off at mid- 
night, and run the two first stages towards Nusseerabad into one. 
I ordered therefore the men to unload their camels, many of whom 
had received their burthens ; and my determination to remain was 
welcomed with the kindest hospitality by Colonel Raper, and with 
much joy by the Hindoo part of the establishment. During my 
stay at Jyepoor, Dr. Smith amputated the hand of the poor brah- 
min, who had followed us from Mowah, and he was left in the 
care of the residency surgeon. 

February 2. — We set off at half-past five this morning ; Colonel 
Raper went with me on his elephant as far as Bancroty, and I 
thence rode the remaining ten miles to Buggeroo, which I found 
rather a pretty place, surrounded with groves of the tara-palm, a 
rare sight in these inhospitable plains. Yet a great part of, the 
soil which I went over in the course of the day, is not bad, and 
the water is every where near the surface. I asked one of my 
attendants why there was no cultivation ? and he ascribed it first, 
to the effects of the former troubles, during which no ma.n dared 
plough ; secondly, to the late drought, which had put a stop to all 
the improvements which had since been commenced. I got this 
information through an interpreter, for 1 had discovered before 
that the language of the Rajpoots is extremely different from the 
Hindoostanee. It is, I apprehend, much nearer the Sanscrit, 
but even in the words which are common to them and their neigh- 
bours, their thick pronunciation, making the "s" into "sh," or 
"dj," makes it very difficult for one who is not a proficient to 
catch their meaning. 

The events of the morning proved that Colonel Raper's re- 
monstrance on the previous misconduct of the vakeel and suwarrs 
had produced its proper effect. The escort now sent with me 
were very attentive to their duty, and evidently picked men ; in- 
deed I have seldom seen finer or taller young fellows than the most 
of them were. Their horses and arms likewise were good and in 
good order, but their clothes extremely ragged and dirty, and 
their wild riding, their noisy whooping and hallooing, and the air 
of perfect equality with which they were disposed to treat us, 
were remarkably contrasted with the profound respect, the sol- 
dierly calmness, and handsome equipments of Skinner's cavaliers. 
I was, indeed, prepared to expect a much greater simplicity and 
homeliness of manner in the Rajpoots and tribes of Central India, 
than in those who had been subjects of the Mogul empire, and, 
even at the court of Jyepoor, I was struck with the absence of that 
sort of polish which had been apparent at Lucknow and Delhi. 



j 8 ROBBERS. 

The Hindoos seem every where, when left to themselves, and 
under their own sovereigns, a people of simple tastes and tempers, 
inclined to frugality, and indifferent to show and form. The sub- 
jects of even the greatest Maharatta prince, sit down without scru- 
ple in his presence, and no trace is to be found in their conver- 
sation of those adulatory terms which the Mussulmans introduced 
into the northern and eastern provinces. Europeans too are very 
little known here, and I heard the children continually calling out 
to us as we passed through the villages, " Feringee, ue Feringee !" 
It was whimsical, however, and in apparent contrast with this 
plainness of speech, that the term " Maharaja," or Sovereign, is 
applied by them to almost every superior. " Salam Maharaja !" 
was addressed to me ten or twelve times in the day by passengers 
whom I met on the road, and my escort, though riding side by 
side with us, and laughing heartily at our inefficient attempts 
to make them understand us, never spoke to me without this 
title. 

During the afternoon an alarm reached us of robbers in our 
morrow's march. Some tradesmen coming to Jyepoor the day 
before had been plundered, and, as was said, some of them killed, 
and the^ country people, and travellers in general, were afraid to 
pursue the usual road. The number of these marauders was so 
variously stated, that nothing could be ascertained, varying from 
one hundred to ten or twelve. We prepared ourselves for meet- 
ing them. The breakfast tent and dark-horses were sent on, to- 
gether with double the usual detachment of sepoys, and all the 
Rannee's suwarrs, amounting to a dozen, who, wild and unsol- 
dierly as was their appearance, were yet very likely to behave well 
in case of need. Thirty sepoys formed our main body, and five 
our rear-guard, while I directed Skinner's men to remain with 
Dr. Smith and me, and arranged so as to keep our parties 
within a moderate distance of each other. Our whole numbers 
were likewise prepared for action, the sepoys ordered to be 
primed and loaded, and the horsemen to have lighted matches. 
Abdullah, with much gravity, brought my own pistols, observing 
that this was a country where all who possessed arms should 
carry them. I had, however, very little fear that any of these 
warlike preparations would end in bloodshed, and was indeed 
chiefly induced to make them from the conviction that the rob- 
bers, if there were any in the neighbourhood, were well informed 
of all our movements, and that they would be little disposed to 
attack us when they knew we were on our guard. Meanwhile I 
was surprised to find how the number of the camp followers had 
increased. Dr. Smith saw in the course of the evening two men 
fighting with their fists, an unusual sight in India, and on enquir- 
ing into the cause, was informed that they were pilgrims going to 



MOUZABAD. 



19 



Ajmere, who had taken advantage of the protection afforded by 
our caravan, and had followed it with their wives and families all 
the way from Meerut. And now at least a dozen, I had nearly 
said twenty, country people, women and children, came up, who 
had been detained on the road by fear of the plunderers, and 
hoped to get past safely in my train. In this hope they were not 
disappointed. 

Next morning, February the 3d, we performed our march in 
much peace, through a very wild and desolate country, overgrown 
with brush-wood and long grass, but on these accounts less dismal 
to the eye than the tracts of naked sterility which we had lately 
traversed. We passed two ruined forts, round one was still a vil- 
lage, and adjoining to it a large encampment of gypsies. 

I endeavoured to learn some particulars of the recent fray, but 
did not succeed in any considerable degree. It seemed agreed 
that a good deal of money and silver ornaments had been taken 
from the traders ; that these last made no resistance, but that, not- 
withstanding, several of them were beaten as well as stripped, but 
it was not true that any had been killed. The robbery had taken 
place between these two villages, in the wild country which I 
have mentioned, but who the assailants were, how many, and 
whence they came, nobody seemed to know. 

After a ride of seven coss, we arrived at Mouzabad, another 
rather large town, with a ruined wall, a mosque, some good gar- 
dens, and several temples. The largest of these was called by the 
Rannee's suwarr, " Bunyan ka Mandur," the Trader's Temple, 
belonging to the sect of Jains of whom I gave an account from 
Benares, and who are numerous in all the west of India, where 
they nearly engross the internal traffic of the country. This 
building was externally richly carved, and appeared, like that 
which I had seen at Benares, to contain several apartments ; but 
we were not permitted to see the inside, though the suwarrs, with- 
out scruple, took us into the court, and up to the terraced roof, 
walking with their shoes on, in high contempt (as became the 
Rajpoot "children of the sun,") both of the tradesmen and their 
deity. I have no doubt that they would, at a word speaking, have 
made a way for us to the very sanctuary ; but as the Jains seemed 
evidently in pain, and anxious that we should go no further, I 
thought it both uncivil and inhuman to press the point. A small 
but richly carved dome rises in the centre of this building, and be- 
yond this again, and, as I conceive, immediately over the image of 
Painnath, three high pyramids of carved stone are raised like 
those of the principal temples in Benares. 

February 4. — From Mouzabad we went to Hirsowlee, six coss, 
over a country little different from what we had traversed since 
Jyepoor, equally level, equally ill cultivated and ill inhabited. 

Vol. II.— 3 



*> 



20 THAKOORS, 

Being on my elephtmt the first part of the way, I saw to my right 
hand at the distance of seven or eight miles, a large piece of 
water which I supposed to be a part of the celebrated salt lake 
of Sambur, which supplies all northern and western Hindostan 
with that necessary. I could not positively ascertain the fact, 
however, at the time, because I had no natives of the country 
near me, being attended by Skinner's suwarrs. I asked the Ran- 
nee's people when we came up with them, but could only learn 
that they had not seen it, which on horseback they certainly could 
not do, and that it lay several coss out of our way. Our own 
course was evidently not a direct one, and I ascertained the cause 
to be that the Rannee's people were obliged to take us to those 
places only where there were crown lands, or where the Thakoors 
were disposed to respect her authority. Of these gentry we had 
met several within these few days, generally seated in covered 
carts drawn by white oxen with gilt horns, and escorted by men 
armed with matchlocks and sabres. They saluted us courte- 
ously as we passed, but did not shew any desire to enter into con- 
versation. 

We had to-day also a proof, which I did not expect, that the 
government of Jyepoor was not quite without an army, since we 
met three sepoys who said they were in the Rannee's pay, and 
that there were three battalions of them. They were in scarlet 
uniforms, so exactly like those of the Company's army, that I 
should have had no doubt, had they not told us the contrary, that 
they really belonged to it. One of the suwarrs spoke very unfa- 
vourably of the Rannee's service. His pay, he said, was only four 
rupees and a half per month, and even this pittance was often 
several months in arrear. He made shift, he said, to support him- 
self, but his wife and children at home were starving. Dr. Smith 
asked him if he should have preferred the Company's service, to 
which he replied that it was a very good service, the best in India, 
but that he could not endure the strictness of the discipline, and 
above all the corporal punishment. None of his race, he said, 
could endure a blow. He who spoke this was a Patan from Ro- 
hilcund, but most of our other men were Rajpoots, distinguished 
by their strings and their badges of gilt metal, a sun and a man on 
horseback, which they wore round their necks in memory of their 
great ancestor the " radiant Surya," or Apollo. 

Dr. Smith, in the course of the day, gave these poor fellows 
what they considered a great treat, that is, a lump of Malwah 
opium. All the Rajpoots indulge in this practice, and many to a 
great excess, but as the remainder of their food is so simple, and 
they touch no other stimulant of any kind, it of course does them 
less harm than Europeans. Our Rajpoot escort had now got into 
so high good humour with us, that nothing could surpass their 



NUPTUAL PROCESSION, 



21 



attention and attendance, and though their style of attention was 
very different from the polished and profound respect of the Hin- 
doostanees, it had so much apparent cordiality in it that I began 
to be much pleased with them. They reminded me of the Tcher- 
noymorsky Cossacks. They are certainly a fine looking people, 
and their complexion the fairest that I have seen in India. 

We walked at night about the town, which has a mud wall 
and fortress, with a very deep ditch. The bazar is large, but the 
principal object worth seeing is, as usual, the Jain temple. We 
were amused by the sight of a splendid nuptual procession, on 
account of the betrothal of the son of a neighbouring Raja to the 
daughter of a Thakoor. The little boy passed on an elephant, 
with a long array of kettle drums, trumpets, and standards before 
him, as well as a very handsome palanqueen, in which two bro- 
thers, still younger than himself, were conveyed. In his passage 
through the streets of the town, fire- works were let off at inter- 
vals, and all the roofs of the houses, as well as the ramparts of 
the fort, were covered with spectators. The towns-people were 
very civil in securing us a good place, and seemed pleased with 
the interest which I felt in the show, and with my wishing the 
little bridegroom "good luck." They told me that he was to be 
taken for that evening to the house of his new father-in-law, where 
the ceremony of affiancing took place, but that he and the little 
girl were to remain for some years with their respective parents, 
when the second and real marriage would be celebrated. 

In the evening I took leave of the vakeel, who, before he went, 
delivered a long message from the Rannee, expressive of her 
earnest desire that I would stand her friend with government, 
and in which she sought to justify herself for her conduct in re- 
moving the Rawul and employing the present minister. She was 
anxious that I should take charge of a letter from herself to Lord 
Amhurst, and her messenger dwelt much on her great desire to 
have peace, and on the frauds and peculations of which, as she 
should be able to prove, the Rawul had been guilty. I told the 
vakeel that the Maharannee might depend on it, that the British 
government had not the least desire, so long as she lived in peace, 
and governed her subjects mildly and justly, to diminish her au- 
thority, or lesson her son's territory. That I did not think such 
a letter as she wished me to take charge of could be of any use 
to her, as it was the custom of British governors to settle all 
matters of state in "Sudder;" (council) and before Lord Amherst 
could read her letter, it must be translated, and by thus becom- 
ing public might do her injury, as giving offence to Sir David 
Ochterlony and Colonel Raper. That she might depend on 
having any paper which she chose to send through these two 
officers duly laid before government ; and that she had better 



22 RANNEE OF JYEPOOR — BANDERSINDREE. 



draw up as strong a memorial as she could for that purpose, 
But in return for the civilities which I had received from her, 
and the confidence she had reposed in me, I begged leave to offer 
two pieces of advice : First, I had heard that she had laid out a 
great deal of money among different sahibs and their servants, in 
order to gain their friendship and interest. I assured her that she' 
was imposed on if she did so ; that the probability was that the 
sahibs knew nothing of the matter, and that she was only enrich- 
ing their monshees ; but that, above all, there was no sahib at 
Agra, Delhi, or elsewhere, except Colonel Raper and Sir David 
Ochterlony, whose friendship and interest could be of any use to 
her. Secondly, I observed, that I had been informed she had 
ordered one of her female attendants to be put to death without 
a regular trial, and that others were in fear of their lives. I 
earnestly urged the vakeel to tell her that there was nothing 
which could do her so much harm as these rash and violent pro- 
ceedings, since there was nothing which shocked the English so 
much. That if her servants did any thing worthy of death, it 
was good to bring them to open trial according to the Hindoo law, 
and before the usual magistrates ; and that it was desirable at 
this time, to prevent slanderous reports, that whenever sentence 
of death was lawfully pronounced, her Mooktar should state the 
circumstances of the case to the Resident. I was then asked if, 
when T returned to Calcutta, I would allow her vakeel there to 
visit me and consult me about her affairs ; to which I answered, 
that I should be always glad to hear of her prosperity ; and I said 
also that when I next wrote to Lord Amherst, I would inform 
him of the kindness and attention with which she had treated me. 
I concluded with again advising her to place confidence in Sir 
D. Ochterlony and Colonel Raper, and to do her utmost to 
secure their favourable opinions. Having thus sent her the best 
advice I could, I gave the vakeel his present and certificate of 
good behaviour. I had been so much dissatisfied with him in 
the former part of the march that, I believe, he had very faint 
expectations of either one or the other ; so that nothing could be 
more profound than his bows and professions of service in taking 
leave. 

February 5. — The horsemen attended me next morning as far 
as Randursindree, a small and poor town in the little princi- 
pality of Kishenghur, where we found some servants whom Mr. 
Moore, the Resident at Ajmere, had sent to receive me, and the 
jemautdar of the village, who said he had orders from the Raja 
to provide every thing for me. — From Bandursindree to Kishen- 
ghur was, I found, not more than eight miles, and as we had only 
come a very short stage this day, and as time was precious with 
me, I made arrangements for proceeding to Kishenghur on the 



r 



KISPIENGHUR. 



23 



Sunday. Had I been able to obtain good information of the 
road, I should have gone through, this day, the whole dis- 
tance from Hirsowlee. I here dismissed my Jyepoor bearers, 
having received a powerful reinforcement from government, 
through the kindness of Captain Burns, head of the commissa- 
riat of Nusseerabad, who, having heard of the desertion of my 
people at Jyepoor, forwarded twenty men to meet me. At Nus- 
seerabad no ordinary bearers are to be hired, but the commis- 
sarat keep forty or fifty in their pay for government service; 
and the letters which government had written concerning me, 
directed them to supply me with every assistance and comfort in 
their power. 

February 6. — From Bandursindree we went between four and 
five coss to Kishenghur. The country, half way, continued open 
and barren. Afterwards, without ceasing to be barren, it was a 
good deal covered by thorny trees ; and at length we ascended a 
rugged chain of granite hills, which brought us to Kishenghur, 
with its walls of solid and substantial masonry, its castle on the 
mountain top, and its gardens fenced with hedges of prickly 
pear, — the whole something like Jyepoor in miniature. — The 
tents were pitched in a stony and dusty plain, but in rather a 
pretty situation without the walls, and enjoying a view of the 
Raja's palace, a large but rudely built fort on the banks of a fine 
pool of water, with a margin of green corn-fields, and a back- 
ground of bare and rugged hills. We found nothing ready either 
for ourselves or for our animals. The people, though civil, 
would furnish no supplies without the Raja's orders, and he had 
married a new wife the day before, and nobody dared to apply 
to him. The promises of payment brought, however, a scanty 
supply, and soon afterwards, about ten o'clock, a message came 
from the Raja in Divan, with his order to supply whatever was 
wanted, and an enquiry whether I wished him to call on me. I 
returned for answer that I had no design to give him that trouble, 
and that I intended to call on him at any time in the afternoon 
that suited him, adding that it was not my custom to go out in the 
heat of the day, and that I was obliged to leave Kishenghur early 
in the morning. The messenger said he would bring me word 
immediately, but never returned, a circumstance which the ser- 
vants ascribed to the Raja's having by this time dosed himself 
with opium. The result saved me some trouble, and was only 
remarkable as being inconsistent with the modesty and civility 
of the first message. The Raja was described to me as a young 
man of twenty-five or twenty-six, of a dissipated character; his 
territory is small and barren, but his expenses must be very tri- 
fling except so far as his many relations, for all his clan consider 
themselves as his kinsmen, are burdensome to him. At night he 



24 



KISHENGHUR. 



sent me some guides for our next day's journey, and some coolies 
whom I did not want ; but, to my surprise, did not send an es- 
cort, which I had asked for the horses, who were to be sent on 
half-way ; he, however, afterwards thought better of it, sinGe 
when we set out, a dozen horsemen presented themselves, but 
too late to be of any service. The corn, in the neighbourhood of 
Kishenghur, I was sorry to see a good deal blighted, as if with 
frost after rain. We had had no rain which could have done 
mischief, and this was the first blight which I had seen in Raj- 
pootana. The soil is very barren, but water is found every 
where, so that with industry and good fortune plenty may be ob- 
tained. On these light soils blight is, I believe, always most fatal. 



25 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

AJMERE TO NEEMUCH. 

AJMERE REMARKABLE FORTRESS MUSSULMAN PLACE OF PILGRIMAGE 

ENCAMPMENT OF, BRINJARREES NUSSEERABAD BHATS AND CHA- 

RUNS CAPTAIN TODD BOOLES. BHEEL MANNER OF FISHING 

BHEELS RANAH OF OODAYPOOR CHITTORE ANECDOTE OF RANNEK 

MARBLE TOWER NIGHT BLINDNESS. 

February 7. — We marched to Ajmere, about seventeen miles. 
The country was as barren as ever, but more hilly, and saved from 
a wearisome uniformity by clusters of thorny trees and thickets 
of the cactus. Among these we found a considerable number of 
camels grazing, and were passed by some irregular troops and 
some sepoys in red, and pretty nearly equipped like those in the 
company's service, who said they belonged to the Maharaja Sin- 
dia. What they could be doing here now that he had ceded all 
his territories in this neighbourhood, and within a hundred miles 
of it, I could not conjecture. Dr. Smith, who put the question, 
had forgotten this fact, or would have asked them where they 
were going, and I, having supposed that they belonged to the 
company's service, had ridden on before, and did not hear the 
question or reply. They were all infantry ; the irregulars had 
matchlocks, swords, and shields ; the regulars only differed from 
our troops as having, which our men frequently carry when on 
a journey, sabres in addition to their musquets and bayonets. 
The cactus or prickly pear grows very strong on these barren 
hills. Dr. Clarke in his travels through the Holy Land speaks of 
it as likely in certain latitudes to afford an impenetrable fortifica- 
tion, and I now asked Dr. Smith if it were ever used in the 
" bound hedge" of an Indian town. He answered that it was 
found very easy to cut down either with axe or sabre ; and that 
nothing answered so well as a thick plantation of bamboos, which, 
though not prickly, are impenetrable, and can be neither burnt 
nor cut down without great loss of time and risque from the fire 
of the besieged. The union of the two, as in the fortification of 
Marapoor, which I have previously mentioned, would seem the 
best. 

I was disappointed in the first view of Ajmere, which I had 
expected to find a large city, but which is only a well-built, mode- 
rate sized town, on the slope of a high hill, or what really deserves 



2G AJMERE. 

the name of mountain. The buildings are chiefly white-washed, 
and the surrounding rocks have some thorny trees and brushwood 
on them which hide their barrenness, and make a good back- 
ground to the little ruinous Mosques and Mussulman tombs, which 
are scattered round the circuit of this holy city. Above, on the 
mountain top, is a very remarkable fortress, called Taraghur, 
nearly two miles in circuit, but, from its irregular shape and sur- 
face not capable of containing more than 1200 men. It is, how- 
ever, a magnificent place of arms in many respects. The rock is 
in most parts quite inaccessible ; it has an abundant supply of good 
water, in all seasons, from tanks and cisterns cut in the live rock. 
There are bomb-proofs to a vast extent, and store-houses like 
wells, where corn, ghee, &c. used to be kept, and, with very little 
improvement from European skill, it might easily be made a second 
Gibraltar. It is, however, no part of the policy of the British 
Government in India to rely on fortresses, and the works are now 
fast going to decay. 

The main attraction of Ajmere in the eyes of its Mussulman 
visitors, is the tomb of Shekh Kajah Mowud Deen, a celebrated 
saint, whose miracles are renowned all over India. The Emperor 
Acbar, great and wise man as he was, and suspected of placing 
little faith in the doctrines of Islam, made nevertheless a pilgrim- 
age on foot to this place to implore, at the saint's tomb, the bless- 
ing of male offspring. The crowd of pilgrims who meet us, or 
whom we overtook during the last three or four days, shewed how 
much the shrine is still in fashion ; and in Malwah it is not uncom- 
mon for pilgrims who have been at the Ajmere Durgah to set up 
a brick or a stone taken from the sanctuary, near their dwelling, 
and to become saints themselves and have pilgrimages made to 
them in consequence of such a possession. 

Nor are they Mussulmans alone who reverence this tomb. 
The Sindia family, while masters of Ajmere, were magnificent 
benefactors to its shrine, and my own sirdar and the goomashta 
Cashiram were quite as anxious to come hither as if it had been 
one of their own holy places. I regret that I could not see it, 
but we were encamped at some distance from the city, and it 
blew all day long a dry north-wester which filled the air in such 
a manner with dust as to make going about extremely painful. I 
sate waiting in my tent in the hope that it might abate towards 
evening ; but it only became bearable as it grew dusk, and the 
account which I heard of the tomb from Mr. Moore was not such 
as to lead me to incur any great inconvenience in order to visit 
it. My servants described it as of white marble, with a great 
deal of golden and silver ornament ; but Mr. Moore said that, 
though rich, it was neither finely carved nor of any particular 
curiosity. 



AJYMERE — NUSSEERABAD„ 



27 



The Emperors of Delhi shewed favour in many ways to Ajmere, 
but in none more than in a noble fresh-water lake which they 
made just above the city, by damming up the gorge of an exten- 
sive valley, and conveying different small rills into it. The re- 
sult is a fine sheet of water now four miles, and during the rains 
six miles in circumference, sufficient in industrious hands to give 
fertility to all the neighbourhood. As it is, it affords the means of 
irrigation to a large district on its banks, supplies abundance of 
excellent water to the citizens of Ajmere, is full of fish, and would, 
if there were any boats, be an excellent place for sailing. 

Mr. Moore lives in a small house fitted up out of a summer- 
house erected by Shah Jehanguire on the very " bund" or dam 
of this lake, and with its waters beating against the basement. 
The building is prettily carved and lined with white marble, but 
a much meaner edifice would, in such a situation, be delightful. 
There is no flood-gate in the bund, nor does any water escape 
that way ; whatever is superfluous being diverted right hand and left 
and employed in agriculture. 

Three coss west of Ajmere is a celebrated Hindoo temple 
named Pokur, which, from the remoteness of its situation from 
the more populous parts of Hindostan, is an object of much in- 
terest and curiosity with people from the east and the Deccan. 

My tent was very nearly blown over in the hurricane of to-day, 
and every thing in it filled with sand, from my bed to my book 
boxes and ink-stand. But though longer in duration, the storm 
was not greater in violence than some which I have seen in Cal- 
cutta. 

February 8. — We proceeded to Nusseerabad, fourteen very 
long miles, over a sandy and rocky plain, bordered on each side 
by mountains which would have been picturesque had they had 
a less bleak and barren fore-ground. The hills are now much 
improved in size ; the little dells and stony plains between their 
ranges are inhabited by a race of people called Mhairs, nominal 
Mussulmans, but paying no real regard to religion of any kind, 
and robbers by profession. Brigadier Knox told me that he had 
on first coming into this district a good deal of trouble with them. 
Sindia had never been able to tame them ; and our troops found 
much difficulty in following them into their mountain fastnesses. 
They were brought at length to ask for an audience of the Gene- 
ral, and like the Puharrees of Rajmahal, whom they seem greatly 
to resemble, were easily conciliated on their being promised pro- 
tection from their lowland neighbours, and obtaining an immunity 
of their lands from tribute. A corps of light troops has been 
raised among them to their delight, and they have been both brave 
and faithful under British officers. Brigadier Knox apprehends 

Vol. II. — 4 



28 



NUSSEERABAD. 



them to be of the same race with the Bheels and the other in- 
habitants of the mountainous parts of India. 

We passed a large encampment of " Brinjarrees, ,, or carriers 
of grain, a singular wandering race, who pass their whole time in 
transporting this article from one part of the country to another, 
seldom on their own account, but as agents for more wealthy 
dealers. They move about in large bodies with their wives, chil- 
dren, dogs, and loaded bullocks. The men are all armed as a 
protection against petty thieves. From the sovereigns and armies 
of Hindostan they have no apprehensions. Even contending 
armies allow them to pass and repass safely, never taking their 
goods without purchase, or even preventing them if they choose 
from victualling their enemy's camp. Both sides wisely agree to 
respect and encourage a branch of industry, the interruption of 
which might be attended with fatal consequences to both. How 
well would it be if a similar liberal feeling prevailed between the 
belligerents of Europe ; and how much is our piratical system of 
warfare put to shame in this respect by the practice of those 
whom we call barbarians ! 

Nusseerabad is a pleasanter place than, from all the bad re- 
ports I had heard of it, I had expected. The cantonments are 
very regular and convenient, the streets of noble width, and there 
are a sufficient number of stunted parkinsonian about the gardens 
to save the view from that utter nakedness which is usually seen 
in Rajpootana. Many wells and two or three large tanks have 
been constructed since the English fixed here, but most of the 
water is brackish. Garden vegetables thrive well, though the 
soil is light and the rock is very near the surface, and I have no 
doubt that the peepul and many other trees would succeed if 
planted sufficiently thick in the first instance. They would be a 
great accession to the place, not only for beauty but for shade, 
for shelter from the bitter winds, and diminishing the quantity of 
dust which is the chief plague of the station. In contradiction to 
all I had been previously told, I find that Nusseerabad is, even 
now, perhaps the healthiest station in India ; and the climate is 
pleasant at all times except during the hot winds. The rains 
in this parched land are welcomed as refreshing, and seldom are 
sufficiently steady to keep people at home a whole day together. 
The force stationed here is considerable, and I found a more 
numerous society than I expected in so remote a spot, and which 
had been represented to me in such gloomy colours. Fruit-trees 
will not grow here, but they have abundant supplies from Pokur, 
the place of pilgrimage which I have just mentioned, and which 
is renowned for its gardens and vineyards. The grapes are by 
far the best and largest in India, and equal to those of Shiraz. 
Sindia still retains a house and garden at Pokur ; so that it is pro- 



CASTLE OF JOUDPOOR, 



29 



bable his troops, whom we met the other day, were going to do 
duty there. The sanctity of the place is renowned all over India, 
but of its beauty and fertility I had never heard before. The 
country indeed of Rajpootana, as I was now given to understand, 
does not increase in sterility in proportion to its approach to the 
western desert. Captain Sandys, the Quarter Master General of 
the district, had travelled considerably beyond Joudpoor ; and he 
described the whole province of Marwar as better soil and in a 
better state of cultivation than either Jyepoor, Ajmere, or Mey- 
war (the south-western tract including Oodeypoor and Neemuch). 
Marwar, indeed, escaped better during the troubles, as being 
farther off from the Pindarrees. The wells are very deep, and 
agriculture therefore expensive. The villages, however, were in 
a good state, the corn looking well and covering a large surface, 
and the cotton the finest he had ever seen. The oxen and sheep, 
also, give evidence of the goodness of their pasture, being the 
largest and most highly prized in all this part of India. A pair 
of good Marwar bullocks, fit for drawing a native carriage and 
and trained to trot, will be reckoned cheap at from 150 to 200 
rupees, and those of Sind are still dearer. 

The castle of Joudpoor, in which the Raja resides, Captain 
Sandys described as extremely magnificent ; and a drawing which 
he shewed me fully confirmed his statement. It is as large as 
Windsor, less strikingly situated, and of more simple and solid 
architecture, but in many respects fully equal to its rival. It is 
strange to find such buildings in such a country. In England I 
should hardly be believed if I said that a petty Raja in the neigh- 
bourhood of the salt desert had a palace little less, or less magni- 
ficent than Windsor. 

During my stay at Nusseerabad I was the guest of Brigadier 
Knox, the oldest cavalry officer now in India, and who has not 
seen England since he was a boy. His house had as yet been the 
only place for divine service, but was not nearly large enough for 
the station. There is a ball-room of sufficient size, but objections 
had been made to using this as a Church also, which I soon ob- 
viated, and the place was directed to be got ready for Sunday. 
On the Saturday preceding I held a Confirmation, when I admin- 
istered the rite to 27 people, the good old Brigadier at their head. 
On Sunday I had a congregation of about 120, of whom 32 staid 
for the Sacrament. This was an interesting sight in a land where 
1 5 years ago very few Christians had ever penetrated. 

Timber is excessively dear, and all articles of wooden furni- 
ture proportionably scarce. When ladies and gentlemen go out 
to dinner parties, they send their own chairs as well as their own 
plates, knives, and forks, a custom borrowed from the camp and 
very sensible and convenient At church also every body was to 



30 



NUSSEERABAD— BUNAEE. 



bring their own chairs ; but as the soldiers had very few of them 
any thing like a seat, I begged that the ladies and gentlemen 
would send what supply they could spare for their use. A curious 
muster was accordingly made of all the chairs in the cantonment, 
but there were still more people than seats. The good nature 
with which my request was met pleased me extremely. 

European articles are, as might be expected, very dear. The 
shops are kept by a Greek and two Parsees from Bombay. They 
had in their list all the usual items of a Calcutta warehouse. 
English cotton cloths, both white and printed, are to be met with 
commonly in wear among the people of the country ; and may, I 
learned to my surprise, be bought best and cheapest, as well as 
all kinds of hardware, crockery, writing-desks, &c. at Pallee, a 
large town and celebrated mart in Marwar on the edge of the 
desert, several days journey west of Joudpoor, where, till very 
lately, no European was known to have penetrated. 

I here exchanged my escort of sepoys, I believe, with mutual 
regret. They, as their commander, Colonel Thomas, told me, 
made a formal application to go on with me to my journey 's end ; 
and I, on hearing this, expressed the same desire. They were, 
however, wanted in their regiment after this long absence ; and 
the more so because, without them, that regiment, in consequence 
of the numbers which had been distributed on different services, 
was almost a skeleton. 

February 14.— I had intended to leave Nusseerabad to-day, 
but my course was arrested by the painful news of the illness of 
my poor baby. My first impression was to set out immediately, 
by the way of Saugor, for the Ganges ; but reflecting that at Nee- 
much I should receive further intelligence, and be better able to 
decide as to the propriety of returning, I resolved to go on ; Cap- 
tain Fagan, the Post-master, having very kindly ordered one of 
the servants of his office to go with me, who was empowered to 
open and examine any Dak packets which might pass us. 

Accordingly on February 1 5th, I quitted Nusseerabad, a place 
which I found so much pleasanter than it had been described to 
me, that I have, perhaps, thought too favourably of it. Its inha- 
bitants, however, certainly spoke well of it ; and of them I have 
every reason to think and speak highly. I have not, in all India, 
met with a better informed, a more unaffected and hospitable 
society. We marched 1 9 miles to Bunaee, a good-sized town, 
situated at the foot of one of the ranges of mountains seen from 
Nusseerabad, with a little old castle on an adjoining rock, and a 
good many spreading trees round its base, which in this country 
are a very unusual and valuable ornament. The people of the 
place begged that we would not deface these trees by cutting them 
for our elephants and camels. A great part of the trade of their 



DEE OLE A — ZALTM SINGH. 



31 



town, they said, depended on them, inasmuch as a religious fair 
was held annually under their shade. This was just over, and we 
had met during our march a number of people returning from it 
Of course I complied with a wish so natural, and purchased in 
consequence 300 little bundles of maize straw as food for the 
three elephants. 

The Greek shopkeeper of Nusseerabad, a Mr. Athanass, a very 
decent man, rode after me to this place to ask my blessing, being 
the only Christian bishop whom he had seen since he had left 
Smyrna. He said he usually attended the worship of the Church 
of England, but had been ill on the morning of last Sunday. He 
had been sixteen years in India, had a brother, also a shopkeeper, 
at Meerut, and their family, he said, for two or three generations, 
had come out to make little competencies in the East, and had 
returned to spend the evening of their lives in their native country. 
He was very anxious to hear news from Greece, and I felt sorry 
that I had nothing good to tell him. I prevailed on him to eat 
some cold meat and drink some claret, but he would not sit down 
in the same room with me. Dr. Smith and I were lodged in an 
empty bungalow, one of several constructed along this road for 
the convenience of Sir David Ochterlony, but which all tra- 
vellers may make use of. They are sorry buildings of stone, 
thatched, with no furniture, nor any better doors and windows 
than pieces of matting ; they, however, save the trouble of pitch- 
ing tents, and answer every purpose for which they were intended. 

The Raja, or Thakoor of the place, who resides in the little 
fort already mentioned, is a child, and his mother sent to allege 
his tender age as a reason for his not calling on me. In the 
town, where we walked in the evening, are two very elegant 
little temples. 

February 16. — We went to Deeolea, six coss. It is a small 
shabby town, with a mud rampart and a ruinous castle. The soil 
apparantly improves as we go south, but the country is sadly 
burnt up, and bare of every thing but thorny trees which are 
pretty thickly scattered in some places. 

February 17. — We proceeded seven coss to Dabla, a poor 
town like the last, at which we entered on the territories of the 
Ranah of Oodeypoor, and were met by one of the servants of 
Captain Cobbe, British Resident at that court, who had prepar- 
ed every thing necessary for me. I found here another letter 
from home, with a more favourable account of the infant, but a 
bad account of my eldest girl. Now, however, I must proceed to 
Neemuch. 

All this country is strangely desolate ; yet the number of tombs 
and ruins which we passed proved that it had been well inhabited 
at no very distant period. Oodeypoor was, indeed, the district 



32 



BHATS. 



which suffered most from the Pindarrees, and from two of the 
chieftains who had the greatest influence with those horrible rob- 
bers, Bappoo Sindia, a cousin of the Maha Raja, and Jumsheed 
Khan. The only district which escaped was the territory of 
Kotah, then administered, during the Ranah's minority, by the 
Regent Zalim Singh, of whose character and many virtues an in- 
teresting account may be found in Sir John Malcolm's " Central 
India," and who, by firmness, personal popularity, and the able 
employment of very limited means, made his little country a sort 
of Eden amid the surrounding misery, and his court to be renown- 
ed as an asylum for the exiled and unfortunate from every neigh- 
bouring principality. He died a few years ago, loved by his own 
subjects and reverenced even by the worst and most lawless of 
his neighbours. During the time Of Colonel Monson's disastrous 
expedition and retreat through these provinces, Zalim Singh offer- 
ed to open his gates to his distressed army and protect them dur- 
ing the whole rainy season, provided Monson would guarantee to 
him the British protection against the subsequent vengeance of 
Jeswunt Row Holcar. But lie was incurable in his feelings of 
dislike and distrust towards all the natives of Hindostan. He 
would not so much as confide in the valour and loyalty of his 
own sepoys, far less in that of a stranger ; and he had, perhaps, 
no authority for promising the alliance of his government to any 
native power so distant as Zalim Singh was from the then frontier 
of the Company. The generous offer of the Regent was, how- 
ever, very properly remembered and rewarded when the British 
become paramount in Rajpootana. 

A " Bhat" or Bard came to ask a gratuity. I desired him first 
to give a specimen of his art, on which he repeated some lines 
of so pure Hindoo, that I could make out little or nothing except 
" Bhadrinath," " Duccun," and other words expressive of im- 
mense extent, and of the different parts of the compass ; the 
poetry was in praise of the vast conquests of the British. He 
only repeated a very few lines, and seemed unwilling to go on, 
on which one of bystanders, a Dak peon, reproached him for his 
idleness, and rattled off twenty lines of the same language in high 
style and with much animation, as a sort of challenge to an 
Amoebsean contest. He spoke so rapidly that I caught even less 
of his meaning than of the bard's before, but the measure struck 
me as very nearly approaching to the hexameter. The bard re- 
joined with considerable vehemence, and I perceived that like the 
corresponding contests of the shepherds in Theocritus and Virgil, 
the present trial of skill would soon degenerate into a scolding 
match, and therefore dismissed both parties (according to the 
good old custom of Daphnis and other similar arbiters) giving 
each a small gratuity. 



BHATS. 33 

The Bhats are a sacred order all through Rajpootana. Their 
race was especially created by Mahadeo for the purpose of guard- 
ing his sacred hull ; but they lost this honourable office through 
their cowardice. The god had a pet lion also, and as the favour- 
ite animals were kept in the same apartment, the bull was eaten 
almost every day in spite of all the noise which the Bhats could 
make, greatly to the grief of Siva, and to the increase of his 
trouble, since, he had to create a new bull in the room of every 
one which fell a victim to the ferocity of his companion. Under 
these circumstances the deity formed a new race of men, the 
Charuns, of equal piety and tuneful powers, but more courageous 
than the Bhats, and made them the wardens of his menagerie. 
The Bhats, however, still retained their functions of singing the 
praises of gods and heroes, r and, as the hereditary guardians of 
history and pedigree, are held in higher estimation than even the 
brahmins themselves, among the haughty and fierce nobles of Raj- 
pootana. In the yet wilder districts to the south-west, the more 
warlike Charun, however, take their place in popular reverence. 
A few years back it was usual for merchants or travellers going 
through Malwah and Guzerat to hire a Charun to protect them, 
and the sanctity of his name was generally sufficient. If robbers 
appeared, he stepped forwards waving his long white garments, 
and denouncing, in verse, infamy and disgrace on all who should 
injure travellers under the protection of the holy minstrel of Siva. 
If this failed he stabbed himself with his dagger, generally in the 
left arm, declaring that his blood was on their heads ; and, if 
all failed, he was bound in honour to stab himself to the heart, 
a catastrophe of which there was little danger, since the vio- 
lent death of such a person was enough to devote the whole land 
to barrenness, and all who occasioned it to an everlasting abode 
in Padalon. 

The Bhats protect nobody ; but to kill or beat one of them 
would be regarded as very disgraceful and ill-omened ; and pre- 
suming on this immunity, and on the importance attached to that 
sort of renown which it confers, they are said often. to extort mo- 
ney from their wealthy neighbours by promises of spreading their 
great name, and threats of making them infamous and even of 
blasting their prospects. A wealthy merchant in Indore, some 
years since, had a quarrel with one of these men, who made a 
clay image which he called after the merchant's name, and daily 
in the bazar and in the different temples addressed it with bitter 
and reproachful language, intermixed with the most frightful 
curses which an angry poet could invent. There was no redress, 
and the merchant, though a man of great power and influence at 
court, was advised to bribe him into silence ; this he refused to 
do, and the matter went on for several months, till a number of 



34 



CAPTAIN TODD. 



the merchant's friends subscribed a considerable sum, of which, 
with much submission and joining hands, they intreated the Bhat 
to accept. " Alas !" was his answer, "why was not this done be- 
fore? Had I been conciliated in time, your friend might yet 
have prospered. Bat now, though I shall be silent henceforth, 
I have already said too much against him, and when did the im- 
precations of a bard, so long presisted in, fall to the ground unac- 
complished ?" The merchant, as it happened, was really overta- 
ken by some severe calamities, and the popular faith in the powers 
of the minstrel character, is now more than ever confirmed. 

I find that the European complexion and dress are greater 
objects of curiosity here than I should have expected ; of both 
they see many specimens in officers travelling through the country, 
and their own tint is so much lighter than that of the people of 
Bengal, that my habituated eyes have ceased almost to consider 
them as different from Europeans. I can perceive, however, in 
the crowds of women and children who come out to see us, that 
Dr. Smith and I are lions of the first magnitude ; and an instance 
which happened this day shews that we are reckoned formidable 
lions too. A girl of about twelve years old, whom we met in our 
walk round the town, stopped short, and exclaimed in a voice 
almost amounting to a cry, " Alas, mighty sir, (" maharaja") do 
not hurt me ! I am a poor girl, and have been carrying bread to 
my father." What she expected me to do to her I cannot tell, 
but I have never before been addressed in terms so suitable to an 
Ogre. 

All the provinces of Meywar were, for a considerable time 
after their connexion with the British government, under the ad- 
ministration of Captain Todd, whose name appears to be held in 
a degree of affection and respect by all the upper and middling 
classes of society, highly honourable to him, and sufficient to 
rescue these poor people from the often repeated charge of ingra- 
titude. Here, and our subsequent stages, we were continually 
asked by the cutwals, &c. after " Todd Sahib," whether his health 
was better since he returned to England, and whether there was 
any chance of their seeing him again ? On being told it was not 
likely, they all expressed much regret, saying, that the country 
had never known quiet till he came among them, and that every 
body, whether rich or poor, except thieves and Pindarrees, loved 
him. He, in fact, Dr. Smith told me, loved the people of this 
country, and understood their language and manners in a very 
unusual degree. He was on terms of close friendship with Zalim 
Singh of Kotah, and has left a name there as honourable as in 
Oodeypoor. His misfortune was that, in consequence of his fa- 
vouring the native princes so much, the government of Calcutta 
were led to suspect him of corruption, and consequently to narrow 



MERCHANTS OF BICCANERE, 



35 



his powers and associate other officers with him in his trust, till 
he was disgusted and resigned his place. They are now I be- 
lieve, well satisfied that their suspicions were groundless. Cap- 
tain Todd is strenuously vindicated from the charge by all the 
officers with whom I have conversed, and some of whom have 
had abundant means of knowing what the natives themselves 
thought of him. 

There is a castle at Dable, but much dilapidated. The Tha- 
koor, its owner, is in disgrace, and has sought refuge at Kotah, 
where he now resides in exile ; the supplies were consequently 
scanty and dear, and the elephants had to go a long way before 
any trees could be found for their forage. What was worse still, 
a good deal of altercation and recrimination occurred, as to the 
question whether the money which I paid found its way to the 
poor peasants. Abdullah said, the cutwal of the place had com- 
plained to him of its having been intercepted by the sepoys, but 
the cutwal has, in my presence, and in answer to my questions, 
declared that all had been received. On the other hand, Abdul- 
lah had been accused, by some of the sepoys, of frequent extortion 
during our journey. So difficult is it to find out the real state of 
the case among people in whose eyes a lie is not disgraceful, and, 
if an offence, a very venial one ! A good many of the tradesmen 
and merchants of this neighbourhood are natives of Biccanere, a 
celebrated city in the desert, and generally return when they 
have made a little money to end their days in that place, — a re- 
markable instance of the love of country, inasmuch as it stands in 
one of the most inhospitable regions of the earth, with an ocean 
of sand on every side, and all the drinkable water in the place is 
monopolized and sold out by the government. Aboo, respecting 
which I asked several questions, lies, as I was told, forty coss 
directly west of Oodeypoor, in a very wild and thinly inhabited 
country. On every account, I apprehend, I have done well in 
not going there in this season of drought and scarcity. 

February 18. — From Dable to Bunaira is about 16 miles; the 
country rather improves, at least it is not so naked, though the 
timber is little better than thorny bushes. Bunaira is a large 
walled town, prettily situated in the midst of gardens and fields, 
at the foot of a range of craggy and shrubby hills, on one of which 
is a very fine castle, larger than that of Carnarvon, and in good 
repair. TJie Raja, who resides in it, came out to meet me at the 
head of a considerable cavalcade ; he was splendidly dressed, 
with a very glittering turban, a shield slung on his back, and a 
remarkably elegant sword and dagger in his sash. His horse was 
led by two grooms tolerably well-clothed; the attire of his silver- 
stick and standard bearers, and other servants, was not in very 
good repair, and his own cane was carried by a naked boy of 

Vol. II. — 5 



i 



3£ BUNAIRA. 

about fourteen. He was an elderly man, and had lost many of 
his teeth, which made it very difficult for me to understand him. 
This does not seem an usual infirmity in India, but the Raja's 
red eyes and eager emaciated countenance sufficiently proved 
him to be an opium-eater. On our first meeting we endeavoured 
to embrace, but our horses threw themselves into such offensive 
attitudes, and shewed such unequivocal signs of hostile intentions, 
that we could only touch each other's hands. I know not how 
Cabul's courage rates, but he looked as if he would have torn both 
the Raja and his horse into shreds. When our steeds were a little 
pacified, we rode abreast a short distance, and began a conversa- 
tion. It is, fortunately, the custom in this part of the world for 
persons of very high rank to converse only through the medium 
of a confidential servant, and I gladly made use of this etiquette, 
using the dak jemautdar, whose Hindoostanee I understood pretty 
well, as the channel of communication with the muttering old 
Rajpoot. The effect, howeyer, of this procedure was abundantly 
ludicrous. " Tell the Raja $ahib that I am happy to meet him, 
and hope he is in good health thus rendered : " The Lord 
Sahib decrees that he is happy to see your worship, and hopes 
you are in good health. 1 ' " Tell the Lord Sahib that I am in 
very good health, thanks to his arrival and provision, and that I 
hope he is well :" rendered, " The Raja Sahib makes representa- 
tion that he is very well, thanks to Huzzoor's arrival," &c. In 
this way we talked on various subjects in our way to the bun- 
galow, which stands in a grove of scattered trees and shrubs, at 
a little distance from the city gate. We passed the dam of what 
had been a noble pool, of probably 150 acres, but now quite dry, 
as was, the Raja said, another of equal size on the other side of 
the town. 

We passed also the first field of white poppies which I had 
seen, a sign of our approach to the opium* district. The bungalow 
commands a very striking view of the Raja's* fortress ; on arriving 
there we alighted and embraced in a most affectionate sort, after 
which I conducted him in and seated him at my right-hand. A 
little more common-place conversation!- followed, and he took his 
leave. Soon after he ^ent a considerable present of sweetmeats, 
which I ordered to be divided amorigfHhe servants and soldiers. 
The bungalow looked very desolate, and I took the precaution of 
having my mosquitcr-net put up as a security from the scorpions, 
which, in such buildings, sometimes drop from the thatch, and 
slept at night very comfortably. 

In the evening we walked to a neighbouring hill, where we 
had another view of the castle and town ; the former, we were 
told, had stood a siege from Zalim Singh of Kotah, who erected 
his batteries on the hill where we now were, but from whence 



BHEELWARA, 



37 



his balls could not have reached the ramparts, and Ameer Khan 
had ravaged the neighbourhood without attempting the castle. 
It would doubtless be a place of considerable strength even 
against an European army, unless they bombarded it, since there 
are no neighbouring heights which command it, and the rocky 
nature of the soil would made it very difficult and laborious to 
open trenches. But shells would, probably, soon compel a na- 
tive garrison to surrender. A good deal of cotton grows round 
the city, and some wheat and barley, with several palm-trees, 
and the whole scene was interesttng and romantic. Ruined 
tombs and mosques were scattered over the hills to a considera- 
ble distance. 

February 19. — From Bunaira to Bheelwara is ten miles ; the 
road for about four miles wound very agreeably through hills and 
scattered jungles. Afterwards we entered a plain, greener and 
better cultivated than we had seen any extent of country for 
many days ; the cattle all shewed this change, and, notwithstanding 
the drought had extended hither also, were in a plight which, 
even in England, would not have been called actual starvation. 
At about seven miles we passed Sanganeer, a large town and 
celebrated fortress, with a good rampart, bastions of better con- 
struction than most I have seen, a glacis and ditch which shewed 
signs of having been a wet one. The walls of the town were, 
however, much dilapidated, and we were told it had been sacked 
by Ameer Khan. Here I was met by the Khamdar or judge of 
Bhularia, with a message of welcome from the Ranah of Oodey- 
poor ; he was a very clean and respectable old man, with a nu- 
merous attendance of ragged matchlock men. 

Bheelwara is a large town without any splendid buildings, but 
with a number of neat houses, four long bazars, and a greater 
appearance of trade, industry, and moderate, but widely diffused 
wealth and comfort than I had seen since I left Delhi. The 
streets were full of hackeries laden with corn and flour, the shops 
stored with all kinds of woollen, felt, cotton, and hardware goods, 
and the neatness of theTr workmanship in iron far surpassed what 
I should have expected to see. Here too, every body was full 
of Captain Todd's praise. The place had been entirely ruined 
by Jumsheed Khan and deserted by all its inhabitants, when 
Captain Todd persuaded the Ranah to adopt measures for en- 
couraging the owners of land to return, and foreign merchants to 
settle ; he himself drew up a code of regulations for them, ob- 
tained them an immunity from taxes for a certain number of 
years, and sent them patterns of different articles of English 
manufacture for their imitation. He also gave money liberally to 
the beautifying their town. In short, as one of the merchants 
who called on me said, " it ought to be called Todd*gun§e, but 



38 



BOOLEES. 



there is no need, for we shall never forget him." Such praise as 
this from people who had no further hopes of seeing or receiving 
any benefit from him, is indeed of sterling value. 

Though the country improves, the people, I think, are a smaller 
race than those to the north, and certainly fall very far short of 
the Hindoostanee sepoys. 

February 20, Sunday. — We were again obliged to go a short 
stage this day, in order that I might have, which is absolutely ne- 
cessary, two entire days at Neemuch. I tried different ways of 
arranging the journey so as to secure our Sunday's rest, but it 
would not do. We began our march with a very melancholy 
omen. One of the Raja's soldiers, or chokeydars, for the name 
of soldier they hardly merited, who had been sent from the town 
to take charge of the remainder of the grass which my suwarrs 
had left, sate down on the parapet of a deep and broad well or 
" boolee," with a wide flight of steps down to the water's edge. 
Here he either fell asleep or was seized with a fit ; at all events 
he rolled over, fell at least forty feet on the stone staircase, and 
was dashed to pieces. He had no wife, but left two children, 
one a boy in service, the other a little girl of eight years old. 
Her uncle brought this child to me in consequence of my en- 
quiries and the interest which I took in the business ; the poor 
little thing seemed hardly to understand what had happened, ex- 
cept that something dismal had befallen her father ; and her blub- 
bered cheeks, her crreat black eves, which were fixed on me be- 
tween fear and astonishment, and her friendless state affected me 
much. I gave her money enough to burn the dead body and 
leave her something over for her own immediate maintenance, 
and recommended her to the care of her uncle, who confessed 
himself to be her natural guardian. 

These boolees are singular contrivances, and some of them 
extremely handsome and striking; they are very deep square pits 
about fifteen or twenty feet across, lined with hewn stone, and 
sometimes sixty or seventy feet deep. At the top is a pulley, as 
in a common well, by which water is drawn from the bottom 
by oxen, but on one side is a long and broad flight of stone steps 
to the water's edge, and, with its approach, sometimes ornamented 
with pillars and a kind of portico. The steps are used both by 
people who desire to wash themselves, and by those who have 
not rope enough to reach the water from the surface, and the 
effect in going down is often very striking. They are generally 
full of pigeons, which build their nests in crannies of the walls. 

Our road was through a country chiefly covered with open 
jungle to Ummeerghur, distant nine miles. A little short of this 
place we passed the river Bunass, now a dry channel with the 
exception of a narrow stream of beautiful and rapid water in its 



UMMEERGHUR. 



39 



centre. It flows eastward, and falls into the Jumna. In the rainy 
season it is a very great river, and the suwarrs told us they had 
never seen it so dry before. There is another river of the same 
name beyond the hills of Aboo and Palhanpoor, which falls into 
the Runn to the west of Guzerat, a circumstance which has led 
Arrowsmith into some great errors, in supposing these streams to 
rise out of the same lake and flow different ways. 

Ummeerghur is a good sized town, in the centre of which are 
three very pretty temples ranged in a line, and built on an uniform 
plan, with a tomb on their right hand, where repose the ashes of a 
rich merchant their founder. A considerable manufactory of chintz 
seemed going on, and the place bore the marks of apparent pros- 
perity. Above it, on a high rock, stands a castle, which was 
conquered last year for the Ranah from a rebellious Thakoor. 
The Ranah, with 3000 men, had besieged it three months before 
he asked for the help of British troops. Finding, however, that 
he made no progress, he applied to the Brigadier at Neemuch,and 
two battalions and a few mortars settled the affair in little more 
than one day. This was told me by the Khamdar of the town, 
and confirmed with a sort of exultation by the jemautdar of a troop 
of irregular cavalry, who, as his corps is under a British officer, and 
he himself had served in our army against Asseerghur, seemed to 
pique himself on being a British, not an Oodeypoor soldier. The 
Khamdar, together with the " Potail, 11 or Zemindar of the neigh- 
bouring district, (who is here an officer strictly hereditary, and 
answering to the Lord of a Manor in England,) called on me, at- 
tended by a number of men with rusty matchlocks, swords, and 
shields. The Khamdar spoke very intelligible Hindoostanee, and 
I thought him a sensible man. The potail had the appearance of 
a venerable old farmer. The whole party, attendants and all, 
entered the bungalow in the unceremonious manner which Sir 
John Malcolm ascribes to the natives generally of Central India,, 
and seated themselves on the ground in a half-circle round me, 
resting their hands on their shields. My servants were a good 
deal scandalized at this rustic plainness, but there was, evidently, 
no offence intended. On the contrary, nothing could exceed the 
attention which they paid us during the day. Fuel and grass were 
furnished on the most liberal scale, and they sent a stock of very 
fine fish, enough to dine our whole camp, while all payment was 
steadily refused, except that I was, with some difficulty, allowed 
to give three rupees to the fishermen who had worked for us the 
greatest part of the morning. Of the fish, indeed, they were glad 
to dispose as soon as possible in any way which might offer. They 
were the inhabitants of a large pool close to the castle hill, which 
appeared, in the rains, to cover about eighty acres, being then sup- 
plied from the Bunass river. It usually retained its water all the 



f 



40 BHEELS. 

year, but this cruel season had already brought it very low, and 
in a month more they calculated that it would be quite dry. Ac- 
cordingly all hands were now at work to catch the fish while they 
were yet alive, and people from the whole country round about 
had assembled either for this purpose, or to purchase them, a very 
large " rooee" being to be had for a single pice. Captain Gerard, 
an engineer officer who met me here, went to see the chace, and 
said it was very curious. The fish were pursued in the shallow 
muddy water with sticks, spears, and hands in all directions, but 
there was little execution done till four Bheels, in the service of 
the Oodeypoor government made their appearance. The rabble 
were then driven away, and these savages, with their bows and 
arrows, made in a few hours that havoc among the fish which 
produced such plenty in the camp, singling out the largest, and 
striking them with as much certainty as if they had been sheep in 
a fold. The magistrates offered to renew the sport for my diver- 
sion in the evening, but, being Sunday, I did not choose it. I saw 
the fishermen, however, who were the first of their nation I had 
met with ; middle-sized, slender men, very dark, with frames 
which promised hardiness and agility more than much muscular 
strength. They were bare-headed, and quite naked except a small 
belt of coarse cloth round the loins, in which they carried their 
knives. Their bows were of split bamboos, very simply made 
but strong and elastic, more so, I think, than those of a buffalo- 
horn which are generally used in Hindostan. They were about 
four feet six inches long, and formed like those of Europe. The 
arrows were also of bamboo, with an iron head coarsely made, 
and a long single barb. Those intended for striking fish had this 
head so contrived as to slip off from the shaft when the fish was 
struck, but to remain connected with it by a long line, on the prin- 
ciple of the harpoon. The shaft, in consequence, remained as a 
float on the water, and not only contributed to weary out the ani- 
mal, but shewed his pursuer which way he fled and thus enabled 
him to seize it. 

We have not yet passed any Bheel villages, but I am told that 
we are getting into their neighbourhood : Bheelwara, indeed, 
though now inhabited by Hindoo and Mussulman traders, should 
seem, in its name, to retain the mark of its original population. — 
During the period which is emphatically called by all the people 
of this country " the years of trouble," these savages were one 
among the many scourges which laid waste the fields, and made 
travelling a desperate adventure. The revival of the Rajpoot 
governments, and the better system of police which English 
influence has introduced among them, together with the aid which 
they receive on all serious occasions from the garrisons of Mhow 
and Neemuch, have put a stop in a great degree to these depre- 



CAPTAIN GERARD. 



41 



dations ; and the judicious measures of firmness and conciliation 
pursued towards the Bheel chiefs, who have had lands granted 
them tax-free, in order to bring them into regular habits, and have 
been many of them enrolled, like the Puharrees and Mhars, in 
local corps for the defence of the roads, have gone far to make 
the savages themselves sensible of their true interests, and the 
kind intentions of the English towards them. Still, however, 
there are occasional excesses, though they are chiefly indulged in 
against the Hindoos. A few months since, one of the bazars at 
Neemuch was attacked and plundered by a body of the hill 
people, who succeeded in getting off with their booty, before the 
troops in the neighbouring cantonment could overtake them. 
And there are, doubtless, even in the plains, many who still sigh 
after their late anarchy, and exclaim, amid the comforts of a 
peaceable government, 

" Give us our wildness and our woods, 
Our huts and caves again !" 

The son of Mr. Palmer, Chaplain of Nusseerabad, a clever 
boy, who speaks the native languages very fluently, while travel- 
ling lately with his father and mother in their way from Mhow, 
observed some Bheels looking earnestly at a large drove of laden 
bullocks which were drinking in a ford of the Bunass. He asked 
one of the men if the bullocks belonged to him ? "No," was the 
reply, "but a good part of them would have been ours if it were 
not for you Sahib Log, who will let nobody thrive but your- 
selves !" 

Captain Gerard I found, under a very modest exterior, a man 
of great science and information ; he was one of the persons most 
concerned in the measurement and exploring of the Himalaya 
mountains, had been in Ladak, and repeatedly beyond the Chi- 
nese frontier, though repelled each time, after penetrating a few 
miles, by the Tartar cavalry. He had himself ascended to the 
height of 19,600 feet, or 400 higher than Humboldt had ever 
climbed amid the Andes, and the latter part of his ascent, for 
about two miles, was on an inclined plane of 42, a nearer ap- 
proach to the perpendicular than Humboldt conceived it possible 
to climb for any distance together. Nothing, he said, could exceed 
the care with which Major Hodgson, Mr. Frazer, and himself, 
had ascertained the altitude of the hills. Each of the accessible 
peaks had been measured by repeated and scrupulous experi- 
ments with the barometer, corrected by careful trigonometrical 
measurement, checked by astronomical observations. The inac- 
cessible heights had been found by trigonometry, on bases of 
considerable extent, and with the help of the best and highest 



42 



GUNGROWR, 



priced instruments. The altitudes, therefore, of the hills, and the 
general geography of the provinces on the British side of the 
frontier, he regarded as about as well settled as human means 
could do it, and far better than the same objects have been ob- 
tained in most countries of Europe. The line at which vegeta- 
tion ends, he stated to be about 13,000 feet. The mountains of 
Kemaoon, he said, are considerably more accessible and less rocky 
than those which lie north of Sabathoo, where the scenery is more 
sublimely terrible than can be described. Yet Nundi Devi, and 
the other highest peaks lie nearer to Almorah than to Sabathoo, 
and the scenery of both these situations falls short of the upper 
parts of the valley of the Alacanandra which flows between them. 
The more I hear of these glorious hills, the more do I long to see 
them again, and explore them further. But my journies never 
can nor ought to be mere tours of pleasure, and the erection of a 
new Church, the location of a new Chaplain, and twenty other 
similar matters may compel me to a course extremely contrary to 
what I could desire if I were master of my own time. 

Captain Gerard had been employed some time in surveying 
and mapping this part of India, and was now for his health return- 
ing to the hills, having had a severe fever at Neemuch. He spoke 
of Jyepoor as the least hospitable and most unruly of all the 
Rajpoot and Maharatta principalities, and seemed rather to won- 
der that I had got through it so well, and met with so much gene- 
ral civility. 

In the evening we walked to see the fort on the hill, which, 
though it looks extensive and showy from without, is within nei- 
ther large nor interesting. The only object of curiosity is a very 
deep well, the water of which is drawn up by a wheel turned by 
bullocks, but which, preposterously enough, is placed just with- 
out the main wall of the castle. 

February 21. — From Ummeerghur to Gungrowr is a distance 
of ten miles, the latter half through a jungle of bushes and stunt- 
ed trees, but with a very tolerable road, though not easy to find, 
on account of the number of tracks winding in every direction 
through the coppice. Gungrowr is a small town with a castle, 
perched on a rock at the foot of a range of woody hills. It had 
foeen described to me as only remarkable for the predatory habits 
of its people. Of these I had no opportunity of judging ; to us 
they were very civil, and the bill for expences brought in by the 
ehief of the place was very moderate. But the situation I thought 
the most beautiful I had seen since leaving the mountains. Our 
tents were pitched in a plain traversed by a small brook which, 
even now, was not dry, and bordered by a wood of some of the 
largest mangoe, saul, peepul, and banyan trees which I ever saw 
except at Ruderpoor, above which rose the hills with their rock, 



DR. GIBB, 



43 



brush-wood, and ruinous towers ; and in spite of this burning sea- 
son, the ground was so good and the brook so abundant, that there 
was a very tolerable turf, a thing which I had not seen, I might 
almost say, since I left Bengal ! I had a delightful walk in the 
wood as soon as the day grew cool. ' In spite of the ill-reputation 
of the neighbourhood I left my train behind, and could often al- 
most fancy myself at dear Hodnet. I believe this place did me 
real good, at least I felt better hope and heart after a half-hour's 
stroll, when I was joined by Dr. Smith, who agreed with me 
that, but for a few scattered palm-trees, the scene would have 
been entirely English. It would, he said, have been Scottish, 
but for the great size of the timber, which indeed I have seldom, 
if ever, seen equalled in our own country. 

I asked the duffildar of the irregular horse if there were many 
groves as fine as these in our way to Neemuch, and was glad to 
hear that the country would become more and more woody and 
verdant as we advanced. The jemautdar from Ummeerghur made 
his appearance again to-day. He had, indeed, promised to go 
with me as far as Chittore, but now apologized on the plea that 
news had arrived of a band of robbers having made their appear- 
ance near Bheelwara, the inhabitants of which place had sent to 
ask his assistance. He did not know the strength of the banditti, 
but said that with the ten men whom he had with him, he should 
not be afraid of charging fifty Bheels. I asked him if it were true 
that the people of Gungro wr bore so ill a character. " The same," 
he said, " as all the people in the neighbourhood ; all had been 
thieves, and all would be so again if they dared. Bheels or 
Rajpoots, there was little difference." He was himself a Mussul- 
man, a short, but very strong built man, with a cheerful counte- 
nance and a good deal of energy of manner. He said there were 
100 horse stationed in different parts of this district under a 
tusseeldar and himself, to keep the peace. They had at first some 
troublesome work, but now things were reasonably quiet. 

I had another countryman with me to-day, Dr. Gibb, late in- 
specting surgeon of this district, and just appointed a member of 
the Military Board, to take his seat in which he was now march- 
ing towards Calcutta. He is a cheerful, well-informed old gen- 
tleman, and gave me a good deal of additional knowledge respect- 
ing Central and Western India. The Mussulman jaghiredars, 
Ghuffoor Khan, Ameer Khan, and a few others, make better 
sovereigns than the Hindoo princes. Though remorseless rob- 
bers, so far as they dare, to all their neighbours, they manage 
their ryuts better, are themselves better educated and men of 
better sense than the generality of Rajas or Ranahs, and are 
sufficiently aware of their own interest to know that if they ruin 
the peasantry they will themselves be losers. Ameer Khan, like 

Vol. II.— 6 



44 RAN AH OF OODEYPOOR. 

the saintly Woggarwolf in Miss Baillie's " Ethwald," now that he 
can no longer carry fire and sword from Bhopal to Joudpoor, is 
grown devout in his old age, dresses in sackcloth and ragged ap- 
parel, tells his beads, and reads his Koran continually, and is sur- 
rounded by Faquirs. He is extremely rich, but his army, except 
a few household troops, he was obliged by Lord Hastings to dis- 
miss. To prevent the evil of turning such a horde of desperate 
men loose on the country, all who chose it were taken into the 
Company's service. But Ameer Khan would still have found, 
had his services against Jyepoor been accepted by government, 
no scarcity of ruffian and vagabonds to join the banner of so re- 
nowned a leader, and would in a few weeks have been again the 
old Patan General, the neighing of whose horses was heard from 
Gurmukteser Ghat to the hill of Aboo. 

The Ranah of Oodeypoor has a large extent of territory, and, in 
ordinary years, a singularly fertile one, were these people to culti- 
vate it. But he was quite ruined and beggared by Bapoo Sindia 
and Jumsheed Khan. Half his revenues at least are mortgaged to 
shroffs and money-lenders, and his people are pitiably racked in 
order to pay the exorbitant interest of his debts. It has been the 
misfortune of his family to have been the oldest and purest in 
India ; to be descended in a right line from the Sun without any de- 
basing mixture, having resisted all attempts of the Emperors of Delhi 
to effect an intermarriage of the houses, and reckoning, I believe, 
in their pedigree, one or two Avatars of the Deity. In conse- 
quence they have been generally half mad with pride, perpetually 
marrying among themselves, fond of show and magnificence be- 
yond their means, or the usual custom of Hindoo sovereigns, and 
very remarkably deficient in knowledge and intelligence. The 
present Ranah adds to all these advantages a great fondness for 
opium. In consequence the revenue is collected in the most op- 
pressive, and dissipated in the most absurd manner, and except in 
the large towns which have obtained, more or less, the protection 
of the British Resident, the country, Dr. Gibb said, has profited 
infinitely less than either Malwah or the rest of the Mey war, by the 
peace which it has enjoyed since the destruction of the Pindarrees. 
Yet, in comparison with Jeypoor, the country is plentiful and 
thriving. Corn is cheap, and the number of beggars less than I 
have seen on this side of Delhi. And when the very unfavourable 
season is taken into consideration, I really think that present ap- 
pearances maybe well accounted for, without supposing any great 
oppression on the part of their government. 

The late Thakoor Bulwer Singh, who was shot, with his two 
eldest sons, about two months ago in an affair with our troops at 
Bondee, was considered as the ablest man in this part of India. 
He was as restless, however, as he was active and daring, the un- 



CHITTORE. 



45 



tameable enemy of the British power, and the person who chiefly 
encouraged the Rannee of Jeypoor to brave that power. His 
mine, fortunately, exploded too soon. Conscious of his own in- 
trigues, he refused to give any explanation of his conduct to the 
Resident of Kotah, fortified himself in his house, and fired on four 
companies of sepoys who, by a fortunate Ghance for the govern- 
ment, happened then to march through the country. Finding 
himself unprepared to stand a siege, he sallied out with about 
twenty men, among whom were his sons, and all three fell in the 
attempt to cut through the soldiers. His youngest son, a boy, has 
been allowed to inherit his jaghire. 

The weather is growing warm though, as yet, by no means 
oppressive. I must expect some heat, however, before I reach 
Baroda. 

February 22. — From Gungrowr to Chittore is between twelve 
and thirteen miles, a wild but interesting road winding through 
woods at the foot of some fine rocky hills. The situation of 
Chittore is conspicuous from a considerable distance by the high 
rock on which the fortress stands, and which, from its scarped 
sides, and the buildings scattered along its crest, sufficiently denote 
its nature, even before the precise forms of the buildings themselves 
are distinguishable. There is a bungalow for travellers near the 
Bunass, but in a situation without shade, and too far from the city 
to answer my purpose. The tents were therefore sent on half a 
mile farther, to a small stony plain close to the town gates, and 
we followed them through a ford of the river, which in this place 
still runs with a considerable stream of very bright and beautiful 
water. On our left hand were the ruins of a long, lofty, and hand- 
some bridge of eight gothic arches, and one semicircular one in the 
centre, with a ruined tower and gateway at each end. The ford 
was deep, with a sharp gravelly bottom, the road leading to it both 
ways extremely broken and stony. Oar encamping ground was 
near the bazar, and close to a fine bowlee, but had no other advan- 
tages, being rocky and strewed with rubbish and fragments of 
buildings, with only a single tree. It was made, too, more uncom- 
fortable by the neighbourhood of a poor mad woman, who had 
taken up her abode under a little shed just long enough and high 
enough to shelter her as she lay on her back, covered with a 
ragged cloth, and raving and lamenting, as we were told, and as I 
had good reason to believe, night and day. I gave her a little 
relief, as many others in the camp did, but she went on in the 
same tone, and with the same fluency. Dr. Smith offered to supply 
her with opium if she ever took it, but she answered " No," and 
went on as before, or rather worse. At last a sepoy said he would 
break her head if she did not hold her tongue, which quieted her 
for a few minutes, when she broke out again, He did not, however, 



46 



CASTLE AT CHITTORE, 



put his threat into execution, nor do I believe he ever intended to 
do so : on the contrary, all the people called her a " Moonee," or 
inspired person, and treated her, if not with respect, at least with 
forbearance. 

The Kamdar of the town, a very well-mannered man, in a 
splendid dress, called on me, and offered to conduct me to see the 
castle, which was a great favour, as it is a thing of which they are 
very jealous, and which probably not ten Europeans had seen out 
of all the number who have visited and lived in India. I proposed 
accompanying him at four in the evening, but he begged it might 
not be later than three, and that we would come on horseback, 
since it was, he said, nearly two coss to the top of the hill. We 
accordingly joined the Thakoor in the market-place of the little 
old city, where he was already mounted and ready to accompany 
us. Chittore was once the capital of this principality, and is still 
what would be called in England a tolerably large market-town, 
with a good many pagodas, and a meanly built, but apparently, busy 
bazar. The population seem chiefly weavers and dealers in grain. 
The fortress rises immediately above the town, and extends for a 
considerable distance to the right and left of it. The rock, where 
not naturally precipitous, has been scarped by art all round the 
summit to the height of from 80 to 1 20 feet, and is surmounted 
by a rude wall with semicircular bastions, enclosing, as our guide 
the Thakoor assured us, a circuit of six coss, or twelve miles. Of 
course it does not contain an area proportionate to this circum- 
ference, since the form is extremely irregular, and the ridge of the 
hill in many places narrow. But the length I can easily believe to 
be above two coss, and the measurement of the wall is, probably, 
not much exaggerated. The approach is by a zig-zag road, of 
very easy slope, but stony and in bad repair, passing under six 
gateways with traverses and rude out-works, before we arrive at 
the main entrance of the castle. The whole face of the hill, 
except the precipice, is covered with trees and brushwood, and 
the approach is therefore very picturesque and interesting. It 
is certainly, however, not two coss in gradual ascent, though it 
may perhaps be not far short of one. In advance of the castle 
gate is an out-work, or barbican, with a colonnade internally of 
octagodal pillars and carved imposts, supporting a flat terrace, and 
with a hall in the interior, which our guide pointed out to us as 
resembling the hall of audience at Delhi! If he had said the 
Emperor's stable, he would have been nearer the truth, but I 
did not think it necessary to contradict him. The gateway itself 
is very lofty and striking, with a good deal of carving, in the 
genuine style of ancient Hindoo architecture, with no Mussulman 
intermixture, and more nearly resembling the Egyptian than any 
thing I have seen since my arrival in this country. On entering, 



CASTLE AT CHITTORE. 4? 

we first passed through a small street of very ancient and singular 
temples, then through a narrow and mean bazar, then, and so 
long as day-light lasted, through a succession of most extraordi- 
nary and interesting buildings, chiefly ruinous, but some still in 
good repair. The temples were the most numerous, none of 
them large, but several extremely solemn and beautiful. There 
were two or three little old palaces, chiefly remarkable for the 
profusion of carving bestowed on rooms of very small dimen- 
sions, and arranged with no more regard to convenience than a 
common prison. One of these, which is seated on a rock in the 
midst of a large pool, was pointed out as the residence of a very 
beautiful Rannee, whose fame induced the Emperor Acbar to 
demand her in marriage, and, on her father's refusal, to lay siege to 
Chittore, like another Agramant, in order to win the hand of this 
eastern Angelica. After a long siege he succeeded in under- 
mining a part of the wall, on which the princess in question per- 
suaded all her country-women in the garrison to retire with her 
and her children into this palace, where they were, at their own 
desire, suffocated with the smoke of fuel heaped up in the lower 
apartments, only two remaining alive. The garrison then sallied 
out on the enemy, and all died fighting desperately, neither giving 
nor accepting quarter. The two female survivors of the carnage 
were found by Acbar, and given in marriage to two of his officers. 
I gave this story as I heard it from the Thakoor Myte Motee 
Ram. With the exception of the romantic cause assigned for 
Acbar 1 s invasion of Oodeypoor, it is indeed " an ower true tale," 
the horrible circumstances of which may be found in Dow's 
History of Hindostan. It is extremely probable that there may 
have been some one high-spirited princess who urged her com- 
panions to submit cheerfully to slaughter, rather than to the 
wretched lot of female captives ; but it is certain that all the wo- 
men and children were slaughtered nearly in the manner describ- 
ed, which, in the blood-stained history of India, was of no un- 
common occurrence, and known by the technical name of 
" Joar," being an act of devotion to Kali, to which men had re- 
course in the last extremity. 

The palace on the lake has, however, no appearance of having 
suffered by fire, though the ruins of a long range of apartments 
to the north of the lake may very probably have been the scene 
of this sacrifice, and in this, perhaps, I may have misunderstood 
my informant. Just above, and on the crest of the hill, as if con- 
nected with this event, stands the largest temple in the fort dedi- 
cated to the destroying powers, with the trident of Siva in front, 
and within, lighted by some lamps, in its furthest dark recess, a 
frightful figure of the blood-drinking goddess, with her lion, her 
many hands full of weapons, and her chaplet of skulls. Atyger'sskin 



48 CASTLE AT CHITTORE. 

was stretched before her, and the pavement was stained with the 
blood of sacrifices from one end to the other. On one side, on a 
red cloth, sate three brahmins, the principal of whom, a very 
handsome man of about 35, was blind, and seemed to be treated 
by the other two, and by all the bystanders, with great deference. 
On my entering the temple, which is very beautiful, I gave a 
rupee to the brahmin next me, who with a very humble obeisance 
laid it at the foot of his superior, telling him at the same time 
that it was the gift of a " belattee Raja." He took no notice, 
however, of either it or me, merely raising his calm melancholy 
face and sightless eyes at the sound of my voice, and again turn- 
ing them towards the shrine, while he kept telling the beads of 
his rosary. A large peepul grows in the court of the temple, 
and there are many others scattered on different parts of the hill. 
In this and all the other temples, I was much struck with the ad- 
mirable masonry and judicious construction of the domes which 
covered them, as well as with the very solemn effect produced 
by the style of architecture. A Gothic or Grecian building of 
the same size would merely have been beautiful, but these, small 
as they are, are awful, the reason of which may be found in the 
low and massive proportion of their pillars, in the strong shadow 
thrown by their projecting cornices and unpierced domes, in the 
long flights of steps leading to them, which give a consequence 
to structures of very moderate dimensions, and in the character 
of their ornaments, which consist either of mythological bas-re- 
liefs, on a very minute scale, so as to make the buildings on which 
they are found seem larger, or in an endless repetition and con- 
tinuation of a few very simple forms, so as to give the idea of a 
sort of infinity. The general construction of all these buildings 
is the same, a small court-yard, a portico, a square open building 
supported by pillars and surmounted by a dome, and behind this 
a close square shrine, surmounted by an ornamented pyramid. 
One and one only, of the buildings on the hill struck me as a 
Mussulman erection, and on enquiring who built it, I was told it 
really was the work of Azeem Ushan, son of Aurengzebe, who 
also was fortunate enough to take Chittore, and who called this 
building " Futteh Muhul" (Victory Hall.) It is singular that such 
a trophy should have been allowed to stand when the Hindoos 
recovered the place. Though uninhabited and falling to decay, 
it is still tolerably entire. 

There are, besides the pool which I have already noticed, 
many beautiful pools, cisterns, and wells, in different parts of this 
.extraordinary hill, amounting, as we were assured, to 84, of 
which, however, in the present singularly dry season, only twelve 
have water. One of these last, cut in the solid rock, and fed by 
a beautiful spring with a little temple over it, is a most pictur- 



TEMrLE OF SIVA AT CHITTORE. 



49 



esque and romantic spot. It has high rocks on three sides, crown- 
ed with temples and trees ; on the fourth are some old buildings, 
also of a religious character, erected on the edge of the precipice 
which surrounds the castle, a long flight of rock-hewn steps leads 
down to the surface of the water, and the whole place breathes 
coolness, seclusion, and solemnity. Below the edge of the preci- 
pice, and with their foliage just rising above it, grow two or three 
plaintains of a very large size, which were pointed out to me as 
great curiosities. The Kamdar assured me that they were 300 
years old, and that they every year produced excellent fruit, 
though, as he truly said, there could be very little earth on the 
ledge where they were rooted. They probably derive moisture 
from the water filtering through the rampart, which here forms a 
dam to the pool. For their great age I have only his authority. 

The most extraordinary buildings in Chittore are two mina- 
rets or tower temples, dedicated to Siva. The smaller of these 
we only saw from a distance, and were told it was now ruinous ; 
the largest, which resembles it in form, is a square tower nine 
stories high, of white marble most elaborately carved, surmounted 
by a cupola, and the two highest stories projecting, balcony-wise, 
beyond those beneath them, so that it stands on its smaller end. 
There is a steep and narrow' but safe staircase of marble within, 
conducting to seven small and two large apartments, all richly and 
delicately carved with mythological figures, of which the most 
conspicuous and frequently repeated are, Siva embracing Parvati, 
and Siva in his character of destroyer, with a monstrous Cobra 
di Capello, in each hand. Our guides said that the building was 
500 years old, but from its beautiful state of preservation, I should 
not suppose it half that age. It is, so far as I could judge by the 
eye, about 110 or 120 feet high. The view from the top is very 
extensive, but, at the present season of the year, there is so much 
dust and glare that a distant prospect cannot be seen to advantage 
in this part of India. 

On our return from the fort I found thekilladar with a number 
of people round him, seated on the roof of the colonnade which I 
have mentioned. I paid him some compliments in passing on the 
magnificence and strength of his castle, which he received in a 
surly manner enough, barely standing up to return my civilities. 
I suspect that, though compelled by the order of his superiors to 
admit me, he was not well pleased at seeing Feringees within his 
castle, and perhaps still less so, that they came by the invitation 
of another person. We returned down the hill by torch-light, 
greatly pleased with our visit. 

We did not see much of the rampart, but were struck by the 
very slight appearance of precaution or defence at the gates which 
we passed. There was only one clumsy piece of cannon visible, 



i 



SAWA. 



and the number of armed men did not altogether amount to sixty. 
A considerable population resides within the fort, but they seemed 
all brahmins, weavers, and market-people. If well garrisoned by 
a British force, the place would, with the addition of some case- 
mates, be very nearly impregnable. Its situation is such that to 
batter it could be of little use, and, from its great extent, shells 
would not occasion much danger to the garrison. But to man 
its walls, even in the most imperfect manner, would require a 
moderate army 

In our way back through the town a man begged of me, saying 
that he was blind. On my calling him, however, he came forwards 
so readily to the torches, and saw, I thought, so clearly, that I 
asked him what he meant by telling me such a lie. He answered 
that he was night-blind (" rat unda,") and I not understanding the 
phrase, and having been a good deal worried during the day with 
beggars, for the whole fort is a swarm of nothing else, said pee- 
vishly " darkness is the time for sleep not for seeing." The people 
laughed as at a good thing, but I was much mortified afterwards 
to find that it was an unfeeling retort. The disease of night- 
blindness, that is, of requiring the full light of day to see, is very 
common, Dr. Smith said, among the lower classes in India, and to 
some professions of men, such as soldiers, very inconvenient. The 
sepoys ascribe it to a bad and insufficient food, and it is said to be 
always most prevalent in a scarcity. It seems to be the same 
disorder of the eyes with which people are afflicted who live on 
damaged or inferior rice, in itself a food of very little nourishment, 
and probably arises from a weakness of the digestive powers. I 
was grieved to think I had insulted a man who might be in distress, 
but Dr. Smith comforted me by saying that, even in respect of 
night-blindness, the man was too alert to be much of a sufferer 
from the cause which he mentioned. 

February 23. — From Chittore to Sawa is a stage of ten miles, 
through a country almost entirely covered with jungle, not close 
and matted with long grass, but open, of scattered trees and 
bushes, with a tolerable turf under foot. It abounds, the suwarrs 
told me, with deer and wild hogs, but has very few tygers. — 
These last, indeed, seem to like long grass and the neighbour- 
hood of water, which is here by no means abundant. There 
are, however, other beasts of prey. A few nights before, a 
wolf had carried away a fine lamb from our litttle flock close 
under the nose of the centinel, who did not perceive the robber 
till too late. 

Sawa is a good-sized town, walled, and containing two or three 
well-looking houses, four handsome pagodas, and two very beau- 
tiful boolees. An unusual number of drunken men, four or five, 
shewed themselves in the course of the day ; they came in two 



TENURE OF LANDS* 



51 



parties to ask justice against some Brinjarrees, who they said, had 
beaten and robbed them. It appeared on cross-examination, 
that in the Brinjarree encampment spirits were (in the language 
of the Calcutta market-book) " procurable." These men had 
been there and had got into some quarrel in which they had 
been soundly beaten, and very possibly robbed too, though this 
last seemed doubtful, as they had still their usual Rajpoot orna- 
ments of silver about them, which would, I should think, have 
gone first. I told them I was not the sovereign of the land, and 
bade them go to the Kamdar of the town. I had seen very few 
drunken men in India before, but the time of " Hoolee" is now 
coming on, which is the Hindoo carnival, and in which the people 
of central India more particularly indulge in all kinds of riot and 
festivity. The sepoys of my guard have begun to assail the women 
whom they pass on their march with singing and indecent language, 
a thing seldom practised at other times. This is also the season 
for pelting each other with red powder, as we have seen practised 
in Calcutta. 

I have endeavoured, within these few days, to learn the tenure 
of lands, their rent, &c. but found that the tenure differed in no 
respect from that described by Sir John Malcolm, and that there 
was no fixed rent but an annual settlement with government, — a 
ruinous system, but too common, as it seems, all over India. 

February 24. — From Sawa to Neemhaira there are six coss : 
the first part of the road through jungle again. Indeed the want 
of people in this part of Mey war is very striking, and the more so 
because the soil, though stony, is far from bad. Water, however, it 
is not impossible, may be difficult to obtain except at a considera- 
ble expense by piercing the rock. The most common tree, or 
rather bush, in these forests is the dhak, with a large broad leaf 
like a peepul, and a beautiful pink flower which now begins to 
shew itself. 

Neemhaira is a small town, surrounded with a better rampart 
and towers than any which I have lately seen, and with a far better 
cultivation round it of wheat, barley, and poppies. The poppies 
are very beautiful, the more so indeed from a circumstance which 
diminishes their value in the opium market, that, namely, they are 
red, white, and all colours instead of white only. Neemhaira, and 
the district round it, containing 275 villages, and yielding a reve- 
nue, as I was told by the towns-people, of three lacs, form a part 
of Ameer Khan's Jaghire, which consists of four or five detached 
territories, besides the principal one of Tonk, where he himself 
resides. The income of all together has been variously rated at 
from ten to twenty-four lacs ; fifteen or sixteen may probably be 
about the amount. This is far more than he ever could have 

Vol. II.— 7 



52 



NEEMHAIRA. 



collected honestly during the time of his greatest power, since then 
he seldom was sure of any part of his territory, except what was 
actually in the possession of his army, and his great harvest always 
grew on his neighbour's lands. 

Neemhaira is administered by a Mussulman officer of his, under 
the title of " moonshee," a very civil and apparently well-informed 
person. He furnished us liberally, and without accepting any 
remuneration, with fuel, grass, &c. as well as with four goats as a 
dinner for the people. The encamping ground, however, was 
bad, the neighbourhood of the town being so well cultivated that 
no place remained free, except what was covered with stones and 
ruins. There is a neat cutcherry with three or four small temples 
and a little mosque in the town ; adjoining to the latter is the 
tomb of Jumsheed Khan, the late Patan chief, w r ho, with Bappoo 
Sindia, held Oodeypoor in so complete and inhuman subjection. 
He has been dead, the moonshee told me, these five years. This 
was his Jaghire till his death. At present it is subject to the police 
of our government, on account of the following transaction : a 
great robbery having occurred about a year ago in this district, in 
which some persons, British subjects from Neemuch, were attacked, 
stripped and some of them killed, Colonel Lumney applied to 
Ameer Khan for justice or damages. The Nawab answered that 
ho had no sufficient army to enforce his authority over so distant 
a possession, and that he wished that the English would take the 
district in farm, pay him a fair rent, and govern it in their own 
way. This offer was accepted. The moonshee, though adminis- 
tering justice in the name of the Nawab, is appointed by Colonel 
Lumley, and there is a jemautdar with twenty of our horse 
quartered in the town to secure it and its neighbourhood. This 
jemautdar, who called on me, is one of the finest old men I have 
seen, with a grey beard flowing over his breast. He is a Mussul- 
man, and, as I should have supposed from his tall stature, not of 
this country, but from the north of Hindostan. There is a very 
beautiful boolee in the town, built within these few years from a 
legacy left by a rich merchant. It has a noble staircase, and a 
verandah of rich Saracenic arches round the wall about half-way 
down. The water is now very low, but in the rains it is full 
nearly to the brim. These fine boolees seemed peculiar to India 
west of the Jumna, at least I have never met with any like them 
to the eastward of that river. The practice of having steps 
down to the edge of the water, as well as corridors and porticos 
round the wells at certain heights, arises from the religious ob- 
servances of both Mussulmans and Hindoos, which make wash- 
ing an inseparable accompaniment of prayer. As works of art 
and taste they are eminently beautiful, but they are strangely de- 



NEEMHAIRA. 53 

ficient in any mechanical aids for raising the water. No means 
are used but the small brazen lotee which every body carries, or 
at most an earthen jar or skin, the former of which is let down 
by a long string from the top of one of the galleries, while the 
other must be carried down to the water's edge and brought up 
again on the head or back. There is indeed a rude pulley at the 
top, but this is only used in irrigating the fields, and to bring up 
the large leathern bucket which is drawn by oxen. 



54 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

NEEMUCH TO BARODA. 

NEEMUCH CHARACTER OF RAJPOOTS AND BHEELS — GOOD EFFECTS 

OF BRITISH RULE BORAS CONFIRMATION PERTAUBGHUR MAN- 
NER OF COLLECTING OPIUM— HEAT, AND PARCHED STATE OF THE 

COUNTRY FESTIVAL OF THE HOOLEE EHEEL HUTS PALACE OF 

BANSWARRA MURDER OF FEMALE INFANTS VISIT FROM THE RAWUL 

-—JAIN TEMPLE SHAM-FIGHT OF BHEELS— VISIT FROM THE RAJA OF 

BARREAH DREADFUL FAMINE BRINJARREES. 

February 25. — From Neemhaira to Neemuch is between se- 
venteen and eighteen miles, over a more open and rather better 
cultivated country. Neemuch itself differs in no conspicuous 
respect from any of the other large cantonments of the Bengal 
army. It is a stationary camp of thatched bungalows and other 
buildings, open on all sides, and surrounded by a fine plain for 
the performance of military evolutions. The soldiers are em- 
ployed in building a sort of fort, as a shelter to the women, 
children, and stores, in time of need. There is a fine house 
here built by Sir David Ochterlony, and well furnished, but 
which he has never occupied. These buildings, with the sur- 
rounding slip of Meidan, constitute the entire British territory in 
this neighbourhood, the small town of Neemuch, and most of the 
surrounding country, belonging to Sindia. The cantonment itself 
is in fact on his ground, but was sold or ceded by him, though 
with considerable reluctance, at the last peace. Not even 
Swabia, or the Palatinate, can offer a more chequered picture 
of interlaced sovereignties than Mey war, and indeed all Malwah, 
of which Meywar, in common parlance, is always reckoned a 
part. In the heart of the territory which on our English maps 
bears Sindia's colour, are many extensive districts belonging to 
Holkar, Ameer Khan, the Raja of Kotah, &c. ; and here scarcely 
any two villages together belong to the same sovereign. Sindia, 
however, though all this is usually reckoned beyond his boundary, 
has the lion's share. Never was an arrangement better calcu- 
lated to ensure protection and impunity to robbers,, even if there 
had not been abundance of jungle and inaccessible rocks, in- 
habited by a race (the Bheels) whose avowed profession, from 
the remotest antiquity, has been plunder. The presence of a 
powerful army in the midst of such a territory, under officers 



NEEMUCH. 



55 



anxious and interested in the maintenance of good order, has of 
course contributed greatly to repress these disorders, and must, 
as I should apprehend, be regarded as a real benefit and blessing 
to the country by all its peaceable and industrious inhabitants. 

I was very hospitably entertained at Neemuch by Captain Mac- 
donald, political agent for this part of India, and brother to Major 
Macdonald Kinnier, whose travels in Asia were published some 
years ago. He was a long time Aids-de-camp and secretary to 
Sir John Malcolm. I derived much valuable information from 
him respecting the route to Bombay, which is all under his con- 
troul, and which he had himself surveyed and laid down in a new 
direction, — the route to Saugor, — the inhabitants of this and the 
neighbouring countries, and their rulers. There was no doubt of 
the route to Saugor (which, in my anxiety to rejoin my wife and 
children, I had still a great hankering after,) through Bundelcund 
and Mirzapoor being perfectly safe and practicable, though I 
should latterly find the heat very oppressive in marching, and al- 
most intolerable in a palanqueen. Nor, indeed, did it appear that 
there were means for laying a Dak in that direction, so that I 
could not hope to arrive on the river till the 20th or 21st of April. 
As to the facilities of proceeding from Mirzapoor by water, I 
found two opposite statements ; some maintaining that the pas- 
sage might, by the help of the stream, be made in six weeks ; 
while one officer, who said he had himself performed it, declared 
that it would, from the delay occasioned by the southern monsoon, 
occupy at least two months or ten weeks, even supposing, which 
was not always to be expected, that the Moorshedabad river was 
open, and that I was spared the detour by Chundna and the Sun- 
derbunds, which would make three weeks more. On the whole, 
unless I determined to go by Dak from Benares to Culcutta, a 
measure not to be adopted in April or May without real neces- 
sity, I found that I should gain but little time by giving up Bom- 
bay, while by doing so, the sacrifice of probable usefulness and 
future convenience which I should make would be very great. I 
therefore made up my mind, though with a heavy heart, to go 
on, in the hope that a kind Providence would still continue to 
watch over those dear objects to meet whom in safety, after my 
long absence, was at present my chief earthly wish. I determined, 
however, on relinquishing my visit to Mhow, because Captain 
Macdonald assured me both that the earlier in April I left the 
hot country of Guzerat the better, and also that after the middle 
of that month I should find considerable difficulty in obtaining a 
passage by sea from Surat to Bombay. 

The character of the Rajpoots, and their government, Captain 
Macdonald represented in unfavourable terms. The people who 
are grievously oppressed, and have been, till very lately, engaged 



56 



CHARACTER OF THE BHEELS. 



in incessant war, have the vices of slaves added to those of rob- 
bers, with no more regard to truth than the natives of our own 
provinces, exceeding them in drunkenness, fondness for opium, 
and sensuality, while they have a blood-thirstiness from which the 
great mass of Hindoos are very far removed. Their courage, how- 
ever, and the gallant efforts they made to defend their territories 
against the Mahrattas, deserve high praise ; and some effects of a 
favourable nature have been produced among them by the inter- 
course which they have had with the English. The specimens of 
our nation which they have hitherto seen, have on the whole, 
been very favourable. None of the King's regiments have yet 
been sent here, and few Europeans of any description except of- 
ficers. They have, therefore, seen little of the drunkenness and 
violence of temper which have made the natives of our own pro- 
vinces at once fear and despise a Feringee soldier, and they still, 
Captain Macdonald says, admire us more and wonder more at the 
difference of wisdom, morals, and policy, which they perceive 
between us and them, than any other people with whom he has 
had intercourse in India. And he is of opinion that their present 
state of feeling affords by no means an unfavourable soil for the 
labours of a missionary. 

The Bheels were regarded both by him and the other officers 
with whom I conversed, as unquestionably the original inhabitants 
of the country, and driven to their present fastnesses and their 
present miserable way of life by the invasion of those tribes, 
wherever they may have come from, who profess the religion of 
Brahma. This the Rajpoots themselves, in this part of India, 
virtually allow, it being admitted in the traditional history of most 
of their principal cities and fortresses, that they were founded by 
such or such Bheels chiefs, and conquered from them by such and 
such children of the Sun. Their manners are described as re- 
sembling, in very many respects, those of the Rajmahal Puharrees. 
And, thieves and savages as they are, I found that the officers 
with whom I conversed, thought them on the whole a better race 
than their conquerers. Their word is more to be depended on, 
they are of a franker and livelier character, their women are far 
better treated and enjoy more influence, and though they shed 
blood without scruple in cases of deadly fued, or in the regular 
way of a foray, they are not vindictive or inhospitable under other 
circumstances, and several British officers have, with perfect 
safety, gone hunting and fishing into their country, without escort 
or guide, except what these poor savages themselves cheerfully 
furnished for a little brandy. This is the more touching, since on 
this frontier nothing has been done for them, and they have been 
treated, I now found, with unmingled severity. In the south, 
where Sir John Malcolm could carry every thing in his own way, 



CHARACTER OF THE BHEELS. 



57 



he raised a corps out of their number, which he placed under the 
command of their own chiefs, and subjected to just as much dis- 
cipline as a wild people were likely to bear, and as was neces- 
sary for the nature of the service in which they were to be 
employed. He also secured them the peaceable possession of a 
certain portion of their lands which had been depopulated by 
the Pindarrees, obtaining for them a freedom from taxes for a 
sufficient number of years to make it worth their while to acquire 
industrious habits. In short, he proceeded in nearly the same 
manner, and with full as much success, as Cleveland did with the 
Puharrees. 

In this part of India nothing of the kind has been done ; they 
have, indeed, had facilities held out to them to enter into our local 
corps, but these corps are under the same severe discipline and 
exact drill with the regular regiments, which it is idle to suppose 
that a savage would endure. Though there is waste land in 
abundance, no effectual measure have been taken to persuade the 
princes of the country to allow or induce the Bheels to settle in 
it, and as these poor people themselves complain, we punish them 
for robbing while we give them no means of earning their sub- 
sistence in an honest way. 

The difficulties, indeed, which the English residents have to 
encounter in their attempts to improve the condition either of 
Bheels or Hindoos, are in this country very great. All interference 
in the internal concerns of the petty sovereigns, who are the Com- 
pany's feudatories, is naturally viewed with a jealous eye by the 
native rulers themselves, and except in the way of advice or indi- 
rect influence, is, in all ordinary cases, discouraged by the su- 
preme government. The Rajas of these states are the most 
ignorant and degraded of men, incompetent to judge of their own 
true interests, and uninfluenced by any other motive which might 
induce them to consult the happiness of their people. 

The Ranah of Oodeypoor, in addition to the circumstances of 
his character which I have already detailed, is surrounded and 
governed by minions of the most hateful description, who drain 
his treasury, force him to contract new debts, and squeeze his 
people to the utmost. The heir apparent of Pertaubghur, who 
had till lately been the efficient sovereign of the country, is now 
in confinement by order of the English Government, in conse- 
quence of his having committed, in about three years' time, no 
fewer than six murders with his own hands, or, at least, sanction- 
ed them by his presence. His father, the Raja, who was entirely 
unable to restrain him, but pleaded with many tears for his 
liberty, is a poor old man, past every thing except a strong affec- 
tion for his unworthy son, and a spirit of avarice which seems to 
know no bounds, and will not be convinced that he would in- 



58 



NATIVE SOVEREIGNS. 



crease his revenues, eventually, by allowing his waste lands to 
be cultivated at easy rents. The Raja of Banswarra is a very 
young and weak prince, and the Rajas of Lunewarra and Doon- 
gerpoor are, in fact, without power to do good ; the territories of 
the former never having recovered from the cruelty of the Pin- 
darrees, and, consequently, are become jungle from one end to 
the other, and the poor prince of Doongerpoor being in the hands 
of a party of rebels who have shut up themselves and him in a 
strong castle, where they are at this moment besieged by a body 
of the Bombay army, who, finding themselves unequal to their 
work, have applied for help to Neemuch. 

In such a state of society, and in a country previously reduced 
by Maharattas and Pindarrees to a state of universal misery, such 
as no country besides has known, little can be done in the way 
of advice or influence by young men stationed at different courts, 
and obliged to apply for directions to a government 1000 miles 
off. It is even probable that too frequent or too arbitrary inter- 
ference would defeat its own ends, and that such a close connec- 
tion as subsists with Oude, for instance, would, as in that case, 
by no means add to the happines of the people whom we seek 
to benefit. But that for these poor Bheels, many advantages 
might be even now obtained, and that it would be a wise as well 
as a most humane policy to secure them as our allies, in any future 
struggles in this part of India, I am fully persuaded; as well as 
that, had Sir John Malcolm been made governor, as he desired 
to be, of all Central India, this point, and many others advanta- 
geous to the people of the country, would have been, long since, 
secured permanently. No difficulties could be greater than those 
which he met with in southern Malwah, and yet that country, 
from a mere wilderness, is now, I am told, a garden. There are, 
indeed, few such governors as Sir John Malcolm to be found, but 
any intelligent government established with distinct powers, and 
the advantages of local information, in the centre of India, would, 
I am convinced, be a great blessing to the country, and a security 
to our dominion here, so great as hardly to be appreciated. 

Meantime it is satisfactory to find that, though our influence 
has not done all the good which might be desired or expected, 
that which has been done is really considerable. Except from 
these poor Bheels, and from the few gangs of marauders which 
still lurk in different parts of the country, that country is now at 
peace, and how slight are these dangers, and how easy to be 
borne are the oppressions of their native Rajas, in comparison 
with the annual swarm of Pindarree horsemen, who robbed, 
burned, ravished, enslaved, tortured, and murdered over the 
whole extent of territory from the Runn to the Bay of Bengal ? 
While their inroads are remembered, to say nothing of Jeswunt 



BRITISH GOVERNMENT — BORAS. 



59 



Rao Holkar and Ameer Khan, the coming of the English cannot 
but be considered as a blessing. And I only hope that we may 
not destroy the sort of reverence and awful regard with which, I 
believe, our nation is still looked upon here. 

Captain Macdonald agreed with Dr. Gibb in speaking of the 
Mussulman governors as wiser and better than the Hindoos ; 
their religion, in fact, is better, and their education is something 
superior. But it should seem, by what he says, that Sindia's ter- 
ritories, and Holkar 1 s, are also better governed than those of these 
western princes, whose misfortunes and long-continued degrada- 
tion seem to have done any thing but taught them wisdom. Sindia 
is, himself, a man by no means deficient in talents or good inten- 
tions ; but his extensive and scattered territories have never been 
under any regular system of controul, and his Mahratta nobles, 
though they too are described as a better race than the Rajpoots, 
are robbers almost by profession, and only suppose themselves to 
thrive when they are living at the expense of their neighbours. 
Still, from his well-disciplined army and numerous artillery, his 
government has a stability which secures peace, at least, to the 
districts under his own eye ; and as the Pindarrees feared to pro- 
voke him, and even professed to be his subjects, his country has 
retained its ancient wealth and fertility to a greater degree than 
most other parts of Central India. The territories of Holkar were 
as badly off as any, but for their restoration they had the advan- 
tages of Sir John Malcolm's advice and commanding influence. 
The ministers who have ruled the country during the young Raja's 
minority, are of his choice ; the system of administering justice 
and collecting the revenue, recommended by him, has been pre- 
served, and, by all which I can learn, the beautiful valley of the 
Nerbuddah has enjoyed, during the last ten years, a greater degree 
of peace and prosperity than it perhaps ever did before within the 
limits of Hindoo history. 

Besides the Rajpoots, Bheels, and Jains, a good many Jats are 
scattered up and down these provinces, chiefly as cultivators of 
the land. There are also more Mussulmans than I expected to 
find, of whom the majority are of Patan race and of the Sunnite 
sect. The smaller, but by far the wealthier and more industrious 
party, are here called Boras, — a sect whose opinions are but im- 
perfectly ascertained. They approach nearest to the Sheeahs, 
with a tendency towards Sooffeism, and are believed by Captain 
Macdonald to be a remnant of the old sect of Hussunus, or as 
they are called in European History, " Assassins." They have 
nothing, however, at present of the sanguinary and warlike tem- 
per which distinguished the followers of the " Old Man of the 
Mountain." They are in general very peaceable and orderly 
merchants and tradesmen, and have considerable influence and 

Vol. II.— 8 



60 



RELIGIOUS TUMULT. 



privileges in most of the cities of Central India, agreeing far bet- 
ter with both Jains and Rajpoots than their fiery Sunnite rivals. 
Between these last and them, however, blood has been lately 
shed. A new Sunnite teacher in the city of Mundissore, a few 
weeks since, thought proper to distinguish himself by a furious 
attack on the Sheeite heresy from the pulpit, and by exhorting 
the true believers to cast out such wretches from dwelling among 
them. In consequence some wealthy Boras were insulted in the 
bazar by the Patans, and a fray ensued, in which the Boras, 
peaceable as they generally are, had the advantage. The Sunnite 
preacher was killed, but his body was buried by his friends with 
all the honours of martyrdom. The fray was again renewed, when 
the Patans killed several Boras and drove the rest from the place, 
declaring that they would pursue their advantage in all the neigh- 
bouring towns till the accursed were rooted from the earth. It 
ended in two companies of British sepoys being sent to keep the 
peace, and in the arresting of one or two ringleaders. Had not a 
large force been at hand, it is probable that a grand war would 
have begun between the parties in half the towns of Malwah ; so 
easily is blood shed where all hands are armed and all laws feeble. 

February 26. — I dined with Colonel Lumley, the Commandant 
of the station. 

February 27. — I read prayers and preached in the drawing- 
room of Sir David Ochterlony's house to a congregation of nearly 
a hundred. I had eight communicants, and, which I did not ex- 
pect, four applicants for confirmation, among whom was my host, 
Captain Macdonald. 

February 28. — I sent off the tents and people at sun-rise, but 
Dr. Smith and I remained till night or rather morning, when we 
travelled in our palanqueens towards Pertaubghur. The weather 
had been really cold for several days, and this night there was a 
hard frost, a circumstance which I did not expect at this time of 
year and in this latitude. We are here, however, in one of the 
highest parts of Malwah, all of which is considerably elevated 
above the sea. The height of the plain of Pertaubghur is reckoned 
at about 1700 feet, an altitude, however, hardly sufficient to ac- 
count for the degree of cold which was felt. For us this was very 
pleasant and wholesome, but the opium crops and the fruit-trees 
were sad sufferers. Captain Macdonald says, that Malwah suits 
most European garden-stuff well, but potatoes degenerate fast, and 
are of so small a size, that the natives after, in many instances, 
trying the experiment, have ceased to cultivate them. He had some 
tolerable ones in his own garden, some fine roses just come into 
bloom, and a good show of strawberries not quite ripe. 

March 1. — We arrived at Pertaubghur, a small city, the resi- 
dence of a petty Raja, with a battalion of sepoys cantoned in the 



PERTAUBGHUR. — DEATH OF A BHEEL GUIDE. 61 



neighbourhood. The Commandant, Major Hamilton, shewed us 
much hospitality and kindness, and from him, as being placed in 
the immediate neighbourhood of the Bheels, I obtained a good 
deal of the information which I have, in the last few pages, commu- 
nicated in respect to them. Pertaubghur contains little or nothing 
worth seeing. The country round it is undulating and fertile, 
with extensive fields of poppies and wheat, and a good many 
scattered peepul-trees. The groves of fruit-trees seem to have 
been all ruined by the Pindarrees, and, in spite of its fertility, all 
beyond the immediate neighbourhood of the large towns is jungle. 
The Raja has the privilege of coining money, grounded, as he pre- 
tends, but as seems very doubtful, on a grant of one of the Mogul 
emperors. He was allowed to retain it when he became feudatory 
to the British government, but has so repeatedly abused it by 
fraudulently altering the standard, that he probably will not be 
suffered to strike money much longer. Ornaments of gold, silver, 
and enamel are to be procured here ; I saw a necklace and brace- 
lets of gold embossed with the twenty-four avatars of Indian my- 
thology, which were very curious and prettily wrought. 

March 2. — I was joined by nine more horsemen of Captain 
Smith's local regiment, making the number of my escort eighteen. 
I had not asked for any increase of guards, but Colonel Lumley 
told me that my road lay too near the seat of war in Doongurpoor, 
and through a country at all times so unsettled, that he did not 
like to send me away with a smaller number. Yet the road takes 
us, comparatively, through a far better country than that which 
used to be followed, and which led directly through the gorge of 
the mountains at Gulliakote into a very dismal wilderness of 
several days' journey, so much infested by tygers that no travellers 
could safely move before sun-rise. The consequence of a contempt 
of this precaution Major Hamilton told me in an affecting story. 
One of his acquaintance, who was marching with a body of troops 
between Gulliakote and Luneewarra, called on a Bheel villager 
to be his guide through the wood very early one morning. The 
Bheel remonstrated, observing that it was not the custom of the 
country to march before day-light, and that it was dangerous to do 
so. The officer, supposing this to be the mere pretext of laziness, 
was positive, and threatened him if he did not go on. The man 
said nothing more, but took his shield and sword and walked on 
along the narrow path overhung with long grass and bamboos. — 
The officer followed at the head of his men, and had moved slowly 
half asleep on his saddle for about five miles, when he heard a 
hideous roar, and saw a very large tyger spring past him so close 
that he almost brushed his horse. The poor Bheel lifted up his 
sword and shield, but was down in an instant under the unimaPs 
paws, who turned round with him in his mouth, growling like a 



CHOMPNA. 



cat over a mouse, and looked the officer in the face. He did what 
could be done, and with his men attacked the tyger, whom they 
wounded so severely that he dropped his prey. But the first blow 
had done its work effectually, and the poor man's scull was mashed 
in such a manner as, literally, to be all in pieces. The officer told 
Major Hamilton that from that day forwards this scene was seldom 
absent from his dreams, and with the least illness or fever he had 
always a return of the vision of the tyger, with the unfortunate 
man in his jaws, whom his imprudence had sacrificed. 

March 3.- — We went this morning about seventeen miles to a 
small and very poor village named Chompna, whither supplies 
had been sent beforehand by the Raja of Pertaubghur, who was 
himself at Deeoleear, a fort at some distance, but from whom 
we had a civil message. The country is pretty, with a mixture 
of wood and arable land which is by no means disagreeable. 
The trees are either dhak or peepul, but near the villages are a 
few mangoes now in blossom. The hills are low, but very rocky, 
the valleys and level ground of a rich and deep though light black 
loam, which, under a good government, would soon be a garden. 
The villagers, however, are among the poorest that I have seen, 
and reminded me in dress and squalor, though not quite in the 
outward signs of ill-health, of the wretched inhabitants of the 
Terra i of Rohilcund. These poor people complained bitterly of 
the injury done to their poppies by the frost, which was again 
severe last night. Their w r heat is happily very promising, but it 
is on the opium that they chiefly depend to pay their rents. The 
heavy transit duties imposed by the different Rajas on the expor- 
tation and importation of corn are very ruinous to agriculture. 
In Guzerat the inhabitants of this fertile region would, gene- 
rally, have a ready market for their wheat, and during this pre- 
sent year it bears a price in the neighbourhood of Baroda treble 
to what it bears at Pertaubghur, being twenty-seven seer the 
rupee at the latter place, and at the former, if we are rightly in- 
formed, nine the rupee, a difference which, with an open and 
easy communication, could not possibly exist unless the interme- 
diate duties were exorbitant. If this is the case, it would be, 
surely, a fair subject of interference on the part of the Company's 
government, as both Guzerat and Malwah would be gainers by a 
free interchange of their commodities. It should seem, however, 
either that these tolls have been lowered, or that the present high 
price has of itself been a sufficient stimulus to prompt men to 
carry corn southwards, inasmuch as, though we had as yet seen 
none, we met or overtook, in the course of our onward journey, 
a great many parties of brinjarrees and wagoners, who were 
either taking corn from Malwah, or were going thither from 
Guzerat to purchase it The people, however, complained that 



POPPY-GROUNDS — AMBER A. 



63 



even now the profit they should make would, to use their own 
phrase, " not be enough to fill their bellies. 1 ' 

One of Dr. Smith's saeeses died to-day. He was taken so ill 
in his march to this place as to be unable to proceed. I sent an 
elephant and some people for him, who found him insensible, and 
he remained so till he expired, soon after his arrival. The 
cholera had shewed itself in several instances at Pertaubghur, 
but this was apparently nothing of the kind. He was a Hindoo, 
and was burned by his companions in the course of the evening. 

The grain, "dhana," had just been cut before this nipping 
wind and frost arrived, — happily* as the suwarrs told me, or that 
also must have suffered. 

We met to-day a considerable number of bullocks laden with 
an intoxicating drug called " Mhowa," a flower, the juice of 
which they ferment and take in various forms. It grows on a 
large tree, and drops off about this time of year. The part 
which they use is the round bulb, or calyx, from which the leaves 
grow. The colour is a pale pink. These men were bringing 
their loads from Doongurpoor to Pertaubghur, against the great 
period of the Hoolee, when all sorts of indulgence and excita- 
tion are in request. 

March 4. — We marched seven coss, or about sixteen miles, 
to Amba Ramba, or, as it is generally called, Ambera. The 
country during this march becomes more rugged and woody, but 
is still tolerably well cultivated ; and after passing a low but 
rocky chain of hills, I was glad to see that the people were at 
work in their poppy-grounds, and that the frost, to all appear- 
ance, had not extended far in this direction. The opium is col- 
lected by making two or three superficial incisions in the seed- 
vessel of the poppy, whence a milky juice exudes, which is care- 
fully collected. The time of cutting them seems to be as soon 
as the petals of flower fall off, which is about the present season. 
Sugar-mills are seen in every village, but no canes are now 
growing. The crops of barley and wheat are very thin, and the 
whole country bears marks of drought, though not by any means 
so decidedly and dismally as Jyepoor. 

Ambera is a large village on the slope of a hill, with a nullah 
not far from it now standing in pools, and some large trees. At 
some little distance it is enclosed by rocks fringed with wood, and 
the scene would be beautiful if it were less parched and sun-burnt. 
The morning had been again cold, but it was very hot during the 
day. We must now, indeed, expect to be more or less inconve- 
nienced by heat, and may reckon ourselves fortunate in the frosty 
mornings which have so long favoured us. The people of Ambera 
were very noisy all day and great part of the night, in the merri- 
ment of the Hoolee. In the course of the evening a man came 



64 



BHEEb VILLAGE. 



to us who said he was a Charun from Cattywar. He had not his 
distinctive dress on, which I was curious to see. I told him, there- 
fore, to bring his "hurra pugree," or large turban, and that he 
should have a present. He promised to do so, but never returned, 
and had, possibly, laid claim to a character which did not belong 
to him. 

I was to-day talking with Dr. Smith on the remarkably dimi- 
nutive stature of the women all over India, — a circumstance ex- 
tending, with very few exceptions, to the female children of Eu- 
ropeans by native mothers ; and observed that one could hardly 
suppose such little creatures to be the mothers or daughters of so 
tall men as many of the sepoys are. He answered, that the women 
whom we saw in the streets and fields, and those with whom only, 
under ordinary circumstances, Europeans could form connexions, 
were of the lowest caste, whose growth was stinted from an early 
age by poverty and hard labour, and whose husbands and brothers 
were also, as I might observe, of a very mean stature. That the 
sepoys, and respectable natives in general, kept their women out 
of our way as much as possible ; but that he, as a medical man, 
had frequently had women of the better sort brought to him for 
advice, whose personal advantages corresponded with those of 
their husbands, and who were of stature equal to the common 
run of European females. 

March 5. — About two miles beyond Ambera the road descends 
a steep pass overhung with trees, into an extensive forest which 
we traversed for fifteen miles to Chotee Sir wan, a small station 
of police sepoys, near which our tents were pitched. The tract, 
however, is not entirely without inhabitants. Soon after de- 
scending from the ghat we came to a Bheel hut, whose owner 
we engaged, by the promise of a reward, to guide us through the 
jungle, and afterwards passed two or three little hamlets of the 
same nation, with small patches of cultivation round each. The 
huts were all of the rudest description, of sticks wattled with long 
grass, and a thatch of the same, with boughs laid over it to keep 
it from being blown away. They were crowded close together, as 
if for mutual protection, but with a small thatched enclosure ad- 
joining for their cattle. Their fields were also neatly fenced in 
with boughs, a practice not common in India, but here I suppose 
necessary to keep off the deer and antelopes from their corn. The 
soil is poor and stony, and few of the trees of large size. There 
is, however, a better supply of water than I expected, none of the 
nullahs being perfectly dry, even in this thirsty year, but standing 
in pools, as Bruce describes the rivers in Abyssinia. The whole 
country, indeed, and what I saw of the people, reminded me of 
the account which he has given of the Shangalla. All the Bheels 
whom we saw to-day were small slender men, less broad-shoulder- 



CHOTEE SIRWAN. 



66 



ed, I think, and with faces less Celtic, than the Puharrees of Rajma- 
hal, nor did I think them quite so dark as these last. They were not 
so naked as the two whom I met at Ummeerghur, having a coarse 
and dirty cotton cloth wrapped round the head and shoulders, 
and a sort of plaited petticoat round their loins, of the same ma- 
terial. Two of them had rude swords and shields, the remainder 
had all bows and arrows resembling those which I had seen be- 
fore, except that the arrow-heads, not being intended for striking 
fish, were fixed. The bow-strings were very neatly made of 
bamboo-slips plaited. Their beards and hair were not at all 
woolly, but thick and dishevelled, and their whole appearance 
very dirty and ill-fed. They spoke cheerfully, however, their 
countenances were open, and the expression of their eyes and lips 
good-tempered. Few of them appeared to know any thing of 
Hindoostanee. 

At Chotee Sirwan no supplies were to be obtained, except 
water from a nullah at some distance, and boughs for the elephants 
and camels. Some tradesmen from the Tannah at Ninnore had 
brought supplies for sale sufficient for the day, but nothing 
further ; and I was again, with reluctance, but from sheer neces- 
sity, compelled to give orders for continuing our march on the 
Sunday. The weather was extremely hot during the greater part 
of the day, but this is obviously among the most advantageous 
months for passing the jungle. The long grass is now burnt, 
or eaten down by the cattle, — the marshes are nearly dry, — and 
those prevailing causes of disease removed, which, at other times 
of the year, make this tract no less deadly than the Terrai. — 
Even the tygers are less formidable now that their covert is so 
much diminished. The prospect, nevertheless, is dismal : nobody 
can say 

"Merry it is in the good green wood !" 

The rocks seem half calcined, the ground is either entirely bare 
and black, or covered with a withered rustling grass ; the leaves 
which remain on the trees are dry and sapless, crackling in the 
hand like parchment ; and the bare scorched boughs of, by far, the 
greater number give a wintry appearance to the prospect, which 
is strangely contrasted with the fierce glow of the atmosphere, and 
a sun which makes the blood boil and the temples throb. A great 
proportion of the trees t 'e teak, but all of small size. There are 
some fine peepuls, which retain their leaves in the moist dingles by 
the river side, and the pink blossom of the dhak, and a few scat- 
tered acacias, the verdure of which braves even the blast of an 
Arabian desert, redeem the prospect from the character of unmin- 
gled barrenness. Still it is sufficiently wild and dreary. Abdullah 



66 



FESTIVAL OF HOOLEE. 



observed, and I was struck with the accuracy of the comparison, 
that the huts, the form of the hills, and the general appearance of 
the country and people, greatly resembled the borders of Circassia 
and Georgia. 

This being the great day of Hoolee, all my Hindoo servants 
came to pay their compliments, and bring presents of red powder 
and sugar-plums. The event was rather costly to me, as I was 
obliged to make presents in return. But it is the " dustoor," and 
who in India can transgress that unwritten and common law of 
the land ? 

Cashiram and the servants were very full of two adventures 
which had befallen them in their night's march. The first was, 
that they heard people for some time running among the bushes 
near them, as if watching to seize the camels, but that on one man 
looking out and seeing the sepoys, all appeared to take flight. — 
The other was that a very large tyger crossed the path a little 
before day-break, so near that they could not have mistaken any 
other animal for him, particularly as the moon shone bright. He 
stopped as if to look at them for a moment, and then passed 
quietly, or as they said, " civilly 1 ' on, as if neither courting nor 
fearing an encounter. All the suwarrs were very full of the change 
which had taken place in this country. " Five years ago," one of 
them said, " a thousand men could hardly have forced their way 
through these jungles and their inhabitants, now I was safe with 
sixty." I asked if small parties were safe ? and they answered "by 
no means ;" that " the Bheels were as great robbers and murderers 
as ever where they had the power," but that " they were very much 
afraid of the red coats." I forgot to mention before, that, on our 
first approaching the Bheel villages, a man ran from the nearest 
hut to the top of a hill, and gave a shrill shout or scream which 
we heard repeated from the furthest hamlet in sight, and again 
from two others which we could not see. I asked the meaning 
of this, and my suwarrs assured me that these were their signals 
to give the alarm of our coming, our numbers, and that we had 
horse with us. By this means they knew at once whether it was 
adviseable to attack us, to fly, or to remain quiet, while if there 
were any of them of their number who had particular reasons 
for avoiding an interview with the troops and magistrates of the 
low-lands, they had thus fair warning given them to keep out of 
the way. This sounds like a description of Rob Roy's country, 
but these poor Bheels are far less formidable enemies than the 
old Mac Gregors. In the afternoon we walked up to one of the 
nearest hills, where were some huts of this unfortunate nation. 
They were all shut up, and an old man who came to meet us, 
said that they were empty. He himself, and a young man, who 



BHEEL BOWMAN. 



67 



was, he said, his nephew, remained alone in the place ; all the 
rest were with their cattle in the jungle. 

Dr. Smith, who has an excellent ear, and knows Hindoostanee 
well, was able to converse with these people more readily than 
any of our party, and said that it was chiefly in accent and tone 
that their language differed from the dialect usually spoken in 
Malwah. They speak in a drawling sort of recitative, which 
Dr. Smith imitated, and found them catch his meaning much bet- 
ter than they otherwise could. The old man said that they had 
suffered much from want of rain, that their crops had been very 
scanty, that there was little pasture left for their cattle, and what 
was worst of all, they expected the pools of the neighbouring 
nullah to dry up before the end of the hot weather. When that 
happened, he said with much resignation — " they must go down 
to Doongurpoor, or some other place where there was water, and 
do as well as they could." Both the men were evidently in 
fear, and even trembled ; they shewed an anxiety that we should 
not go near their huts, and were unwilling to trust themselves 
with us as far as our tents, though they perfectly understood my 
promise that they should have something to eat. I pressed the 
young man to shoot one of his arrows at a mark, but he had 
only two with him, and he looked at us all round as if he feared 
we wanted to make him part with his means of defence. I suc- 
ceeded, however, in re-assuring him : he shot at and hit a tree 
about 100 yards off, and on my praising his skill, let fly his other 
arrow, which went straight enough, but struck the ground near 
the root. He held his bow and arrow in the English manner, 
differently from the Hindoostanees, who place the arrow on what 
we should call the wrong side, and draw the string with the 
thumb; his arrows were not ill-made, but his bow was what a 
" British bowman" would call a very slight one. The applause 
which he received, and the security which he now felt, made him 
familiar. He sate on the ground to shew us the manner in which 
his countrymen shoot from amid the long grass, holding the bow 
with their feet, and volunteered aiming at different objects, till 
I told him there was no need of more trials ; I asked him what 
game he usually killed, but apprehend that he misunderstood me, 
for he said, with some eagerness of manner, " that he only used 
his] bow in self-defence." He now was very willing to come 
to our camp, and his uncle followed him. I gave them three 
anas between them, for which they were very thankful. One 
of the suwarrs told me that the guide in the morning expressed 
much delight and some surprise at my keeping my word with 
him, in giving him the promised bukshish, a pretty clear proof 
how these poor people are usually dealt with. 

The police thanna consists of three or four huts, with a small 

Vol. II.— 9 



68 BANSWARRA. 

stage elevated on four poles for a sentry to stand on, so like those 
used by the Cosacks on the Circassian frontier, as to add greatly 
to the resemblance of scenery discovered by Abdullah. I again, 
in the course of the evening, longed for my wife to see these 
things with me ; and though, after all, this is a country into 
which it is not likely that I should by choice take her, yet I know 
there is much in it which would amuse and interest her. 

March 6. — We proceeded this morning about seven miles, 
through a very wild forest of rock, wood, dingles, and dry ravines 
to Panchelwas, a small village inhabited by a mixed popula- 
tion of Bheels and Rajpoots, and under the government of the 
Ranah of Banswarra. To this place we were told was a direct 
road over the hills from Neemuch, which would have saved us at 
least eight miles, and which, I found on reference to Sir John 
Malcolm's work, is laid down in his map of Central India. It is so 
rugged, however, and so infested by the unsubdued tribes of 
Bheels, that few travellers, except beggars and pilgrims, go that 
way. The houses of Panchelwas are built in the same manner 
with those of the Bheels, but are larger and neater ; and there 
were one or two shops, and the work -yard of a wainwright, which 
shewed our return to something like civilization. The carts here 
are very strong and low. The wheels have no spokes, but are 
made of the solid circles of the stem of a large tree, like those of 
children's carts in England. They have no axletrees of the kind 
used in Europe, but the wheels are placed below the carriage, 
and secured like those of wheelbarrows. 

The country, though still as wild as wild could be, had im- 
proved both in greenness and beauty during this morning's ride, 
and, on the other side of Panchelwas, became extremely pretty. 
We crossed a river, the Mhye, which, notwithstanding its dis- 
tance from the sea, though shallow, was still broad, and not stag- 
nant, with rocks on each side crowned with wood and some 
ruined temples, while the hills were not only greener and better 
wooded than any we had lately seen, but assumed a certain 
degree of consequence of size and outline. At last, our path still 
winding through the wood, but under the shade of taller and 
wider spreading trees, and over a soil obviously less burnt and 
barren, we came to a beautiful pool, with some ruined temples, 
and a stately flight of steps leading to it, overhung by palms, pee- 
uls, and tamarinds ; and beyond it, on the crown of a woody 
ill, the towers of a large castle. This was the palace of Bans- 
warra, and on advancing a little further the town came in sight at 
its foot, with its pagodas, ramparts, and orchards. 

I was much surprised to find in such a situation so large and 
handsome a place, of which I knew nothing before, except as one 
of those states which have been noted in India for the wildness 



i 



FEMALE INFANTICIDE. 



69 



and poverty of their inhabitants, and for their abominable custom 
of murdering the greater part of their female infants. This cruel 
and most unnatural sacrifice it has long been the endeavour of the 
British government to induce its vassals and allies to abandon. 
Major Walker, when Resident at Baroda, thought he had suc- 
ceeded with the greater part of them, but it is believed by most 
officers on this side of the country that the number saved was ve- 
ry small in proportion to that of the victims. Unhappily pride, 
poverty ,and avarice are in league with superstition to perpetuate 
these horrors. It is a disgrace for a noble family to have a daugh- 
ter unmarried, and still worse to marry her to a person of inferior 
birth, while they have neither the means nor the inclination to pay 
such portions as a person of their own rank would expect to re- 
ceive with them. On the other hand, the sacrifice of a child is 
believed, surely with truth, to be acceptable to " the evil pow- 
ers," and the fact is certain that, though the high-born Rajpoots 
have many sons, very few daughters are ever found in their pa- 
laces, though it is not easy to prove any particular instance of 
murder, or to know the way in which the victims are disposed of. 
The common story of the country, and probably the true one, for 
it is a point on which, except with the English, no mystery is like- 
ly to be observed, is that a large vessel of milk is set in the cham- 
ber of the lying-in woman, and the infant, if a girl, immediately 
plunged into it. Sir John Malcolm, however, who supposes the 
practice to be on the decline, was told that a pill of opium was 
usually given. Through the influence of Major Walker it is cer- 
tain that many children were spared, and previous to his depart- 
ure from Guzerat, he received the most affecting compliment 
which a good man could receive, in being welcomed at the gate 
of the palace, on some public occasion, by a procession of girls of 
high rank, who owed their lives to him, and who came to kiss his 
clothes and throw wreaths of flowers over him as their deliverer 
and second father. Since that time, however, things have gone 
on very much in the old train, and the answers made by the chiefs 
to any remonstrances of the British officers is, "Pay our daugh- 
ters' marriage portion and they shall live !" Yet these very men, 
rather than strike a cow would submit to the cruellest martyrdom. 
Never may my dear wife and daughters forget how much their sex 
is indebted to Christianity ! 

The walls of Banswarra include a large circuit, as much, I 
should think, as those of Chester ; but in the one, as well as the 
other instance, a good deal of space is taken up with gardens. 
There are some handsome temples and an extensive bazar, in 
which I saw a considerable number of Mussulmans. We took up 
our abode without the walls in a little old palace, with a pretty 
garden and a large cistern of water, now dry, which has been ap- 



70 



BANSWARRA. 



propriated by the Rawul to the use of Captain Macdonald. From 
this house is an advantageous view of the city and palace, the 
trees are finer, and the view more luxuriant than any thing, Gun- 
growr always excepted, which we have seen since our leaving 
Bhurtpoor. 

The Rawul came to call on me in the afternoon with his Kham- 
dar, and a considerable train of vassals, whom he presented to 
me as a highland chief would have done the gentlemen of his clan, 
and describing them in the same manner as the Thakoors of his 
house. They were mostly good-looking stout men, of a rustic but 
manly figure. The Rawul himself is a small, thin, and effeminate 
young man, of no prepossessing appearance. He was plainly 
dressed^ except that he had a very handsome sword, a most volu- 
minous red turban, and great gold anklets. His minister was a 
thin shrewd looking person, with a very squeaking voice, a turban 
as was fitting, of inferior dignity to his master's, but with large 
pearls in his ears. I embraced the Rawul and his minister, and 
assigned them chairs on my right and left hand. The Thakoors 
all sat down on the floor, with their shields before them in the 
Rajpoot fashion, and a crowd of servants and people of all de- 
scriptions, among whom, in order to do me honour, nearly half 
the sepoys of my escort pressed, formed a semicircle of standers 
by behind them. Abdullah acted, as usual, as master of the cere- 
monies and interpreter, neither Dr. Smith nor I being versed in 
the technical and complimentary language of a court. At length, 
however, the conversation became more general, and they ex- 
pressed much curiosity concerning the war in Ava. They had 
heard of Sir A. Campbell's success, and the capture of 300 pieces 
of cannon, but were anxious to learn the further progress of the 
campaign. I talked to them about Sir John Malcolm, of whom 
they spoke with great respect and apparent regard, and expressed 
great joy on hearing that he was likely again to come out to India. 
They conversed readily enough, more so than I had expected, 
about Doongurpoor and its war, though, as the Rawui said in an- 
swer to my question, if it was not so ? that its Raja was his kins- 
man. " And Oodeypoor also V said I. His countenance evidently 
brightened as he answered in the affirmative, as if he derived con- 
sequence in his own opinion and that of others by his relationship 
to so illustrious a house. 

I now thought the visit had been long enough, and ordered 
pawn and attar to be brought. To my surprise, however, the 
Kawul kept his seat, called for his " kalean," or Persian pipe, 
smoked some whiffs, then began talking again. A long whispering 
conversation ensued between him and his minister, and while I 
was wondering in what all this would end, he begged my accept- 
ance of a horse, which he said he had brought for me. I was a 



RAWUL OF BANSWARRA. 



71 



good deal annoyed, but endeavoured to parry the offer as well as 
I could. I first pleaded that such things were unnecessary where 
there was good -will, and that I valued the almonds and sugar- 
plums which he had presented on first entering the room, as his 
gift, as much as an elephant coming from a person of less distin- 
guished family. He bowed and smiled, but said, " If you refuse 
the horse, how can I believe you like to receive a smaller present?" 
I then said I should accept the horse with gratitude, and should 
be much obliged to the Raja to keep it for me till I returned that 
way, since in my journey between Bombay and Calcutta, I should 
go by sea, and be unable to take it with me. " Oh, 1 ' said the 
Raja, " when you return I shall have more and finer horses for 
you, but you must not refuse to take this now." In short 1 was 
obliged to yield, and the horse was brought, a tolerable grey poney, 
but old and not in the best condition, though quite as good as one 
generally meets among the Rajpoot nobles. He now took leave, 
and I accompanied him to the gate, the sepoys presenting arms, 
which seemed to please him much. Knowing, however, the po- 
verty as well as the antiquity of his family, I could not bear the 
idea of taking the horse without making a return, and after some 
deliberation, for it was not easy to find any thing I could spare 
which he would like, I sent him the glass lamp which used to 
hang in our cabin on board ship, both as a pretty thing in itself, 
and one which he had, unquestionably, never seen before, at the 
same time that it accorded with the habits of his nation, who all 
burn lamps at night. I sent it by my servants, with an apology 
for my not returning his visit from my anxiety to proceed on my 
journey. He returned a very civil message, and if I am to believe 
the report of my messengers, was well pleased with my present. 
Its intrinsic value, I should guess, was fully equal to that which I 
had received from him. 

The Rawul said his age was just twenty-one, and he had been 
on the musnud since the year 1816. Both he and his minister 
spoke much of the oppression and cruelty formerly exercised on 
them by the Maharattas and Pindarrees. They said that ours was 
a good government for peace, and putting down thieves, but 
complained of the opium laws, and asked where all the opium 
went which was monopolized. They listened with much atten- 
tion to Dr. Smith's account of the empire of China, and the quan- 
tity of opium which was consumed there, but were still more 
interested on his telling them that on my voyage from Bombay to 
Calcutta, I must pass by Lancau, (the name given to Ceylon in the 
Hindoo books, and respecting which they have many extravagant 
legends.) They would scarcely believe him when he said that it 
was now under the British government, and that he had been there, 
and asked eagerly "if the principal city was surrounded by a wall 



72 



BURODEEA. 



of solid gold V He answered that this was an old tradition, but 
that they themselves knew that many things mentioned in old 
books had not their like on earth now ; that Lanca was still a 
rich country, but not so fine as it had been represented, which 
seemed to satisfy them. 

In the afternoon Dr. Smith strolled out by himself, and had 
some conversation with a few old men whom he found under the 
shade of a tree. They seemed well satisfied with the present 
peaceable times, and answered his questions very readily about 
the internal politics of the country. The Ehamdar, they said, 
was a Jain, and seemed to hold him cheap accordingly : with the 
Rawul they did not seem well pleased. He was twenty-one, they 
said, and yet not married, a circumstance always discreditable 
among the Hindoos, but here particularly so where it is a matter 
of much difficulty for girls of high blood to obtain suitable matches. 
We were objects of great curiosity in this place. A crowd was 
assembled all day before my gate, observing every movement 
within ; and when I walked in the evening I had as great a crowd 
after me as I have seen after a Persian ambassador, or other such 
outlandish person, in the streets of London. 

During all the time of Hoolee, drunkenness is common among 
the Hindoos, and our bearers had been for some days giving proof 
of it. To-night, however, they were so noisy after I was in bed, 
that I sent Abdullah to scold them. He brought back word that 
there was a dispute between them and some bunyans of the town 
about payment. On this I ordered all parties to my bed-side in 
order to judge between them, but by the way the adversaries 
agreed between themselves, and I heard no more of it. 

March 7. — We went between eleven and twelve miles through 
a wild but pretty country, to a small village named Burodeea. 
We were guided by Bheels, and most of the people we met were 
of that nation, though the villagers themselves were Rajpoots. 
Supplies were scanty and obtained with some difficulty from five 
or six neighbouring hamlets. The place contains at present twenty- 
five families ; it was, twenty years ago, a moderate-sized town, but 
was ruined by Ram Deen, one of the followers of Jeswunt Row 
Holkar, and among the worst of the many bad. He is now a pen- 
sioner of the British government, having surrendered to them early 
in the last war, and is living in retirement in Hindostan. 

I was told that no charge would be made for the wood, milk, 
and grass which had been furnished, and which were all the sup- 
plies which we required. I gave, however, a rupee to the Ze- 
mindar, or Potail, a very fine young peasant, but who could 
scarcely speak a word of Hindoostanee. We walked in the even- 
ing through some small patches of cultivation, with jungle all 
round, and a pleasing prospect of high woody hills : there were a 



KALINGERA. 73 

great many mhowah-trees, not yet in blossom, though they would 
be so, we were told, in a fortnight or three weeks. They nearly 
resemble the oak in size, form of the branches, and colour of the 
leaves. Of the mhowah and its uses a good account is given in 
Sir John Malcolm's Central India. Its flower, besides the intoxi- 
cating liquor obtained from it by fermentation, when dried, nearly 
resembles a small raisin both in appearance and flavour. Its fruit, 
and the small pistachio nut which grows wild among these hills 
in great abundance, are the principal food of the wilder tribes of 
Bheels. The latter are said to be deleterious till roasted, or at all 
events they contain an oil so astringent as not to be eatable. 

March 8. — A romantic road through a wood containing many 
fine trees, and displaying a reasonable show of verdure, brought 
us, about seven miles, to a small but well-built village named 
Kalingera. A majority of the houses which we had seen in the 
territory of Banswarra, (I mean the Rajpoot houses, for the Bheel 
huts are wretched enough.) are extremely well-built and respect- 
able, of large bricks, frequently two stories high, and, with their 
out-buildings, and in their general style, possesing much of the 
exterior of an English farm. Kalingera has also a sort of manor- 
house, not unlike some of the dismal-looking Zemindarree houses 
near Barrackpoor, the residence of a Thakoor, the hereditary 
chief of this place and a small district round it. Its most remark- 
able building, however, is a Jain temple, the largest and hand- 
somest which I had yet seen, and which, being completely desert- 
ed, I had a tolerable opportunity to explore throughout. The 
entrance is under a sort of projecting porch by a flight of steps 
conducting to an open vestibule, supported by pillars, and covered 
by a dome. On each side of the entrance are some more steps, 
leading to an open verandah over the porch. To the right of the 
vestibule just mentioned is a small court, to its left a square hall, 
supported by pillars internally, and roofed with flat slabs of stone, 
laid across stone beams of unusual length, being twelve feet from 
pillar to pillar. ^Beyond the vestibule, and facing the entrance, I 
passed by an ascent of three steps into another square hall, also 
with a flat roof, but differing from the last as being open on the 
sides, and having a square platform, I apprehend intended for an 
altar, in the midst. To the right and left of this hall were others 
of the same size, but covered with domes ; and beyond these, to 
the extreme right and left, were sanctuaries of about twelve feet 
square, surmounted by high ornamented pyramids, with their 
door-places richly carved, and having, within, small altars like 
those in Roman Catholic churches, with vestiges of painting 
above them. 

In the centre, and immediately opposite to the entrance, a dark 
vestibule led into a large square room also covered externally 



74 



JAIN TEMPLE. 



with a pyramid, and having within, in the middle, a sort of altar 
or throne of marble, on which were placed four idols in a sitting 
posture, also of marble and not ill carved. On either side of this 
apartment was a richly carved niche or small alcove, and beyond 
it, and still opposite to the entrance, another small vestibule led 
to an inner shrine about twelve feet square, also covered with a 
pyramid, having an altar at its farthest end, and a bas relief of 
Parisnath, surrounded by several smaller sitting figures, over it. — 
The details of this room, however, I only saw imperfectly. It had 
no light but what came through its door after traversing all the 
preceding apartments. It was very close and noisome, being full 
of bats which kept flapping against my face, and whose dung 
covered the floor of both rooms. Though the Thannadar of the 
village very civilly brought me paper, pen, and ink, he had no 
torches, and without them it was neither pleasant nor profitable 
to remain long in such a place, in a country where it was sure to 
be a harbour for all unclean and noxious animals. I could, how- 
ever, by the light which I had, see enough to satisfy me that the 
arrangement of the figures was pretty similar to that which I had 
seen in the Jain temple at Benares. 

From the dome-roofed apartments to the right and left of the 
hall which has the altar in it, a double verandah extends, sur- 
rounding a court in which the two sanctuaries which I have just 
described are enclosed ; the verandah to the court being open and 
supported by pillars. The exterior of one has no opening to the 
country, but internally has a number of narrow doors correspond- 
ing with the intercolumniations of the other. It is also surmounted 
externally by a succession of small pyramids, and on its western 
side and immediately behind the central sanctuary, is another 
chapel of the same kind with this last, covered with a similar 
pyramid, and approached by a very elegant portico or vestibule 
of a square form, supported by six pillars and as many pilasters. 

In the further shrine is an altar, and a large painting over it, 
much defaced, of a colossal head with a beard and flowing locks, 
and so far as can be judged, a very venerable expression of counte- 
nance. This, as well as I can recollect, is different from any 
thing which I saw at Benares, and may perhaps belong to some 
mystery which they did not think fit to disclose to persons of a 
different religion. The interior of the apartments had but little 
ornament except the images and bas reliefs which I have men- 
tioned ; the exterior is richly carved, and the pyramids, more par- 
ticularly, were formed in clusters of little canopies, as usual in the 
Hindoo buildings of these provinces, but more elaborately wrought 
than is often seen. On each side of the doors of the different small 
sanctuaries are figures of men with large staves in their hands, 
naked except a cloth round the waist, with very bushy hair, and a 



TAMBRESRA. 



75 



high cylindrical cap, such as is not now worn in India, but which 
exactly resembles that seen on the ancient figures at Persepolis 
and elsewhere in Persia. The similarity was so striking that 
Abdullah of his own accord pointed out one of these head-dresses 
as like that on the monument of Jumsheed Jum, and the prints 
which I have seen prove his recollection to be accurate. The 
domes are admirably constructed, and the execution of the 
whole building greatly superior to what I should have expected 
to find in such a situation. Its splendour of architecture, and 
its present deserted condition, were accounted for by the Than- 
nadar from the fact, that Kalingera had been a place of much 
traffic and the residence of many rich traders of the Jain sect, 
who were all ruined or driven away by the Maharattas, at whose 
door, indeed, all the misfortunes of this country are, with apparent 
reason, laid. 

The antiquity of the building I had no means of ascertaining. 
It is in too good repair for me to think it very old, and there are 
no inscriptions on its conspicuous parts ; a Nagree date (1103) is 
visible on one of the stones in the pavement of the interior ve- 
randah, near the south-west corner, but I know not from what era 
this is reckoned, and the stone, from its situation, is not likely to 
have been selected to receive the date of the building. It may 
have been removed from some other edifice. 

From Kalingera is about seven miles more of jungle to Tam- 
bresra, a village near which our tents were pitched under the 
shade of some fine trees, and near a cistern which still contained 
a little water. The situation was very beautiful, but made less 
agreeable than it might have been by an unlucky accident. Our 
little flock of sheep and goats were resting after their march un- 
der a spreading tree, when a monkey, who had come down to 
steal the shepherd's breakfast, and was driven back by him, in 
his hurried flight among the branches stumbled on a bee's nest 
which hung suspended in the air, and not only got himself well 
stung, but brought out the whole swarm in fury against the poor 
unoffending animals beneath. Most of them were severely stung 
and bleated pitifully, but it was curious to observe the different 
conduct between the sheep and the goats. The former crowded 
all together, burying their noses in the sand, but with no appa- 
rent notion of flight or resistance, the latter ran off as fast as 
they could for shelter among our tents, pressing in for security 
as so many dogs would have done. They brought, however, 
such a swarm of their pursuers adhering to their coats and fol- 
lowing them close, that their coming was very little to be desired, 
and we were forced to refuse them the hospitality which they 
would otherwise have received. Indeed, as it was, my tent was 
filled for a short time with bees, and several of the people were 

Vol. II.— 10 



76 



TAMBRESRA, 



stung. We had good reason, however, to be thankful that they 
were the sheep and goats which were attacked and not the hor- 
ses ; had the latter been the case, the consequence might have 
been very serious. From what I saw on this occasion I do not 
think the sting of the common Indian bee so severe as that of the 
European. 

In the afternoon the Thakoor of the district, who assumes the 
title of Raja, came to see me. His residence is at Kishulgur, a 
little town about three coss from hence, and he has a very small 
and poor territory of fourteen or fifteen villages ; his name is 
Gumbeer Singh, a strongly built and handsome young man, though 
not tall, and with one of the most prepossessing contenances I 
have seen for some time. He was a mere rustic, however, and 
had the further disadvantage of an impediment in his speech, a 
consciousness of which, apparently, made him confused and diffi- 
dent. His dress was plain, and his shield, sword, and large tur- 
ban his only finery. He was attended by fifteen or twenty armed 
men, all on foot. I gave him a chair, pawn, and attar, and he in 
return would not allow his people to receive any thing for a kid 
and some milk which they had furnished, the value of which in- 
deed was not equal to half a rupee. 

Grain, which at Banswarra had been sixteen seers the rupee, 
was here nineteen, which I hoped, indicated that things were 
not so very bad in Ouzerat as I had understood, since on the 
immediate border there was no deterioration. The Thakoor, 
however, said that there was great dearth there, but that none of 
the people had, as yet, come to seek refuge in this country. 

During the years of trouble, Malwah (except in the neigh- 
bourhood of fortified towns and among the most inaccessible 
mountains,) was entirely depopulated. All the villagers here- 
abouts had emigrated chiefly into Berar, Candeish, and the Dec- 
kan, and some had become servants and camp-followers to the 
British army, till, within the last three or four years, they re- 
turned each man to his inheritance on hearing that they might 
do so in safety. Several instances of this kind, and of the in- 
violable respect paid in this part of India to the rights of the 
poorest freeholders thus returning, are mentioned by Sir John 
Malcolm. 

We walked in the evening about the village, the situation of 
which is beautiful ; its inhabitants consist of Bheels and low caste 
Rajpoots, who have a still for arrack, at which several of the 
encampment, unfortunately, drank but too freely. On the hill 
above were some noble mhowah trees, and under their shade 
some scattered Bheel huts, neater and better than any which I 
had seen. Each was built of bamboos wattled so as to resemble 
a basket ; they had roofs with very projecting eaves, thatched 



POLICE OF MALWAH. 



77 



with grass and very neatly lined with the large leaves of the teak- 
tree. The upper part of each gable end was open for the smoke 
to pass out. The door was wattled and fastened with a bamboo 
plait and hinges, exactly like the lid of a basket, and the building 
was enclosed with a fence of tall bamboo poles, stuck about an 
inch apart, connected with cross pieces of the same, and with 
several plants of the everlasting-pea trailed over it. Within this 
fence was a small stage elevated on four poles about seven feet 
from the ground, and covered with a low thatched roof. My 
people said this was to sleep upon as a security from wild beasts, 
but I have no idea they could be in any danger from them within 
a bamboo fence and in a house of the same material, since it is 
well known that the tyger, from apprehension of snares, will 
hardly ever come near this sort of enclosure. It might be used 
as a sleeping place for the sake of coolness or dryness, but as each 
of these houses seemed to stand in the centre of its own little 
patch of Indian com, I should rather apprehend it was intended 
as a post to watch it from. 

One of the Allahabad bearers who had been drunk at Bans- 
warra on Sunday evening had not yet joined us, and his compa- 
nions expressed considerable uneasiness about him. They did not 
apprehend that he had as yet come to any harm, but he was, they 
said, pennyless, and without his clothes in a strange and far distant 
country. They thought he was probably deterred from following 
us either by fear of my displeasure, or by a dread of passing the 
woods alone, and begged me to make use of my " great name" to 
procure, as the best thing which could befal him, his being seized 
by the police, and brought to me as a prisoner. This was pre- 
cisely what I thought of doing, so that I was not sorry to close 
with their intreaties, as, in fact, his absence was by no means 
convenient to me. 1 sent, therefore, a description of the man to 
the cutwal of Banswarra by four of the police sepoys, who are 
stationed at different thannas for the protection of the road, and 
who nearly resemble the sword and shield-men whom we see 
round Calcutta, except that the police of Malwah have also match- 
locks. These men had, at first, frequent affairs with the Bheels, 
and it was often necessary to call in the aid of regular troops. At 
Cheeta Talao, which is the frontier post of Guzerat, four years 
ago, a sharp engagement took place between 50 horse and 100 
infantry under the orders of Mr. Wellesley, and a large body of 
Bheels, in which seven horses and five men were killed by arrow- 
shots. At present matters go on smoothly in this neighbourhood, 
but last year Captain Cobbe had a long and bloody campaign in 
the mountains south of Oodeypoor, in which many lives were 
lost on both sides, but which ended in the miserable Bheels hav- 
ing their fields wasted, their villages burnt, and so many of their 



78 



THE RIVER ANASS, 



people destroyed by famine that they were supposed to be com- 
pletely tamed. Captain Cobbe sent, therefore, a Chobdar with 
offers of mercy ; but so desperate had these wretched tribes be- 
come, and so bitter was their hatred of their persecutors, that 
they cut off the messenger's head, and fixed it on a bamboo, where 
the advancing party found it the next morning, the perpetrators 
of the deed having fled still further into the hills, where it was 
next to impossible for the lowland troops to pursue them. Since 
then it is said that Captain Cobbe has succeeded in engaging one 
tribe of Bheels to fight against their countrymen, but the result 
of this measure I have not heard, nor can I help thinking that a 
conciliatory policy has not yet been sufficiently tried, and that it 
is likely to answer better with these poor savages than mere se- 
verity. 

March 9. — A march of fourteen miles through a thick forest, 
only interrupted by a few patches of corn round a Bheel hamlet, 
with a thanna, named Doonga, about half-way, brought us to the 
rocky and beautiful banks of the river Anass, the bed of which is 
as broad as the Dee at Bangor, but which was now standing in 
pools, with every prospect of being quite dry before the present 
hot season is over. We here left Malwah and entered Guzerat. 
On the Guzerat side of the river is a police thanna of two 
thatched huts, with an elevated stage for a sentry, and the whole 
surmounted by a high fence of bamboo poles, after the manner of 
the Bheels. A little to the north of this, and near the confluence 
of the Anass and another considerable torrent named the Mhysrie, 
our tents were pitched in a situation which only wanted more 
water to make it the loveliest, as it was the wildest and most ro- 
mantic, which I had seen since I left Kemaoon. The spot of our 
encampment was considerably elevated, and presented a small 
irregular lawn dotted with noble trees of the peepul, mhowah, 
and toon species : beneath us, on two sides, was a rocky bank with 
brushwood, below this the two rivers, now, alas ! hardly deserving 
the name, but, with their rocky and uneven beds, intersecting and 
bordering the clear black pools which yet remained in deeper and 
more shady spots ; and, beyond them, hills, rocky and covered 
with wood, an apparently trackless and boundless wilderness so 
far as the eye could follow it. In seasons less thirsty than the 
present this would have been a delightful spot. As it is we were 
fortunate in not being a week later, since, on asking about our 
farther route, I found that it was necessary to alter our destined 
halting-places in many instances from absolute want of water, 
and six or seven days later a caravan like ours would have been 
reduced to great distress, and probably obliged either to make 
marches which would have materially harassed the cattle, or to 
return by the way it came, at the risk of losing them all. 



CHEETA TALAO. 



79 



" Cheeta Talao," the name of this place, means Leopard's 
rock, but we neither saw nor heard of any ferocious animah 
Animals of all kinds, indeed, seem strangely scarce in these woods. 
Had there been many tygers we must, in all probability, have seen 
them or heard their growls, travelling so much as we have done 
before day -break, and pitching the tents in such wild and woody 
places. Nor have we seen any deer, or game of any description. 
The tyger, it is well known, requires a great deal of water, and 
is generally found in its neighbourhood ; but the pools and cool 
reeds which yet remain in the Anass are sufficient, I should have 
supposed, to answer his wants. I am led therefore to suppose 
that the deer and other game have left the hills on account of the 
scarcity of forage, and that the tygers and leopards have followed 
them to the plains. Yet the cattle of the Bheels which we have 
fallen in with, though lean, as all the Indian cattle are at this time 
of year, do not seem famished. 

A few Bheel huts were seen scattered over the surrounding 
hills in conformity with the practice which seems universal with 
these people, of fixing their habitations on a rising ground. A good 
many of their inhabitants assembled on one of the hills to look at 
the camp, but none came near it ; and though Dr. Smith and I, 
during our evening's walk, fell in with three or four, they all made 
off as fast as they could, except one young man, who was, I ap- 
prehend, in the service of the police thannadar, and whom we 
found with his bow and arrows, watching a small patch of barley, 
the only cultivation which we saw. Our own supplies were 
brought partly from Doongra, partly from Jhalloda, distances of 
six and ten miles, and the horses got no gram till nearly nine 
o'clock at night. 

Soon after I went to bed an alarm was given by one of the 
sentries, in consequence of a baboon drawing near his post. The 
character of the intruder was, however, soon detected by one of 
the suwarrs, who on the sepoy's repeating his exclamation of the 
broken English, u who goes 'ere ?" said with a laugh, " why do 
you challenge the lungoor? he cannot answer you !" These ani- 
mals are, some of them, as large as a moderate pointer, and when 
creeping through the bushes might well enough be mistaken for 
a Bheel, especially as the robbers of this nation generally make 
their approaches on their hands and feet. 

March 10.- — From Cheeta Talao I had intended to go to Leem- 
ree, a distance, stated by Captain Macdonald, to be sixteen miles.. 
But on learning that it was customary to stop at Jhalloda, and 
that it was a large place, 1 determined on halting there, and the 
rather since I was told that we could not get to a better place of 
halting on Saturday than Doodeah. In all this I was misinformed 
as the event shewed, but I had not now first to learn that in coun- 



i 



80 



JHALLODA. 



tries of this sort, one must often learn one's way by actual expe- 
rience. From Cheeta Talao our road lay through a deep and 
close forest, in the lower parts of which, even in the present sea- 
son, the same thick milky vapour was hovering as that which I 
saw in the Terrai, and which is called " essence of owl." We 
passed one or two places of this kind both yesterday and to-day, 
than which no fitter spots could be conceived, a t a proper time of 
year, to shelter a tyger, or communicate a jungle-fever. Even 
now they were chilling cold, and the gloom and closeness of the 
ravines, seen in the moonlight, made them dismally wild and aw- 
ful. At the end of about nine miles, we crossed the bed of the 
Mhysree, and went past a thanna named Moorkhousla, and 
through a country partially cultivated, another mile to Jhalloda. 
We passed, both yesterday and this morning, caravans of wagons 
loaded with cocoa-nuts, proceeding from Baroda to Malwah, and 
the northern provinces. They were to bring back mhowa and 
corn, so that it appears that the present high prices in Guzerat 
have actually made it worth while to encounter the heavy transit 
duties. 

We found also at Jhalloda, a Charun, a very fine athletic-look- 
ing man, and apparently a person of some property, who had 
been on a speculation of the same kind to Indore, whither he had 
taken a number of horses, and was now returning with about forty 
bullocks laden with grain, to his own country of Cattywarr. 
When we arrived at Jhalloda, we found him just leaving the 
ground, where he had bivouacked for the night with his cattle 
round him, putting on his huge red turban, girding his loins, and 
hanging on his sword and shield. A servant stood by him with 
his matchlock, and a saees held his poney, while four or five other 
retainers, with matchlocks on their shoulders, were beginning to 
drive off the bullocks. Many of the more opulent Charuns prac- 
tise the trade of horse-dealing, being very much protected in their 
journies, against every body but Bheels, by the supposed sanctity 
of their character. The Cattywarr horses are among the best in 
all India, equal to those of Cutch in beauty, and much superior in 
the generosity of their blood, and fineness of their temper, in 
which they almost equal the Arabs. Some of them are dun, with 
black tyger-like stripes, and these are the most valued. 

Jhalloda had been described to me as a city, a name which it 
little deserves. It has a bazar, however, a mosque, a small 
pagoda, and some good, solidly built brick houses, of a kind such 
as are not usually seen in the eastern districts of India, being of 
two stories high, with sloping tiled roofs, and very projecting 
eaves, which, from the smallness of their windows and other cir- 
cumstances, put me a good deal in mind of our Shropshire malt- 
kilns. There is a large and handsome tank, not more than half 



JHALLODA. 



8! 



full of water, but covered with multitudes of teal, the banks of 
which are shaded by same fine mangoe and ceiba-trees. The 
crimson blossoms of the last were very beautiful, and both they 
and the mangoes were full of monkeys, chiefly of the lungoor 
kind. 

I learned, to my surprise, that Jhalloda, Godra, and three 
other small towns in this neighbourhood, with their dependant 
hamlets and districts, belong to Sindia, who is also feudal superior 
of the Raja of Lunewarra. I was not previously aware that he 
retained any influence in Guzerat. His own territories here are 
called the district of Punjmahal, and had been till lately held in 
Jaghire by one of his relations who oppressed the people griev- 
ously, but had been just disgraced, as is said, by British influence, 
and after some ineffectual resistance, seized and carried to 
Gwalior. The Maharaja's flag, striped red and white, is hoisted 
in the market-place, but the police of the neighbourhood, so far 
at least as the security of the road is concerued, appears to be 
vested in a moonshee of Captain Macdonald's who came to pay 
his respects, and gave me this information. Grain here as we 
found from the bunyans who supplied the camp, was 15 seers the 
rupee, and they said that we should find it dearer as we went on. 
They spoke of the crop now in the ground as never likely to 
come up, and said, which certainly agreed with our own obser- 
vation, that the wheat and barley harvest, which was now be- 
ginning, would be dismally scanty. 

A number of Bheels, men and women, came to the camp with 
bamboos in their hands, and the women with their clothes so 
scanty and tucked so high as to leave the whole limb nearly 
bare. They had a drum, a horn, and some oJher rude minstrelsy, 
and said they were come to celebrate the Hoolee. They drew 
up in two parties and had a mock fight, in which at first the fe- 
males had much the advantage, having very slender poles, while 
the men had only short cudgels, with which they had some diffi- 
culty in guarding their heads. At last some of the women began 
to strike a little too hard, on which their antagonists lost temper 
and closed with them so fiercely that the poor females were put 
to the rout in real or pretended terror. They collected a little 
money in the camp, and then went on to another village. The 
Hoolee, according to the orthodox system, was over, but these 
games are often prolonged for several days after its conclusion. 

In the evening 1 was alarmed by violent shrieks from the wife 
of one of the mohouts and her sister ; the husband had been 
beating them with a large stick, and both were all bloody. I 
found on examination, that the rn^n had several serious grounds 
of complaint against them, but I aou^onished him severely for 
correcting them in such a manner, and threatened him with im- 



i 



82 



LEEMREE. 



prisonment at Baroda if such an offence occurred again. One 
of the women pretended to be very much hurt indeed, but she 
soon grew tired of shamming the insensible, and began to scold 
and scream away, declaring that she would never enter her hus- 
band's house again, a determination from which I had very little 
doubt she would relent as soon as her passion cooled, and the 
rather because in this strange land she had neither home nor 
harbour. 

March 11.- — The distance from Jhallodato Leemree, our stage 
for this day, was little more than six miles, and had I been fully 
aware of all circumstances, might easily have been included in 
the yesterday's march. It lies through a wild country, though the 
jungle is not so close as that which we had lately traversed. One 
of the suwarr's horses dropt down and died on the road, to the 
great dismay of the poor rider, who stated that his horse was his 
chief worldly wealth, and that the allowance made by a sort of 
regimental fund established for such emergencies would not buy 
him another. If he had lost it in battle, the Company would have 
given him 200 rupees, but at present he would receive only 150 
from a stock-purse which all the irregular regiments keep up to 
meet casualties. Nor had he any means of procuring, at present, 
an animal to carry him in his long march. I felt, therefore, glad 
to be able to give him the Rawul of Banswarra's poney, which, 
though not tall enough for the ranks, would carry him perfectly 
well during his march, and the sale of which would afterwards 
come very handsomely in aid of his new purchase. 

Leemree, or Neemree, for it seems to be pronounced both 
ways, is a good sized village on the bank of the winding Mhysree, 
which we here crossed a second time ; the water still formed many 
deep pools in parts of its rocky bed, in which were a good many 
fish. It was, however, as a countryman on the bank assured me, 
too putrid to be drinkable, and the camp was supplied from some 
small wells near the town. We overtook some Brinjarrees in this 
morning's march, carrying corn from the neighbourhood of Indore 
to Baroda. Soon after we arrived at our ground, a poor woman 
came to Dr. Smith, and complained that she had been robbed of 
all her property and beaten by the Bheels near the pass of 
Doodeah, which lies about half way in the stage which we were 
to go next morning. She added that, on her remonstrating, the 
plunderers threatened to take away her two children. A com- 
plaint nearly similar was brought to me in my evening's walk by 
an elderly man, the Potail of the village, who said that he and some 
other people had had their wains stopped and plundered and their 
oxen carried away, and on being reminded that they should have 
recourse to the officers of the Maharaja, whose subjects they were, 
replied with some justice, 44 Why do you English keep a line of 



REAPING. 



83 



posts through our country, unless you will defend us in passing 
along the road V I told them to send one of their number with 
me to Barreeah, where a moonshee of the British Government 
resides, from whom I would endeavour to obtain justice for them. 
Dr. Smith had applicants for surgical aid both yesterday aud to- 
day ; the first was a very fine boy, who was brought by his parents 
with a dislocated shoulder, which had occurred six weeks ago. — - 
The second was also a bov, who had lost his sight in the small- 
pox, a case but too plainly hopeless. The poor child seemed very 
intelligent, but knowing nothing of the blessings of sight, seemed 
glad when he found that no operation was to be performed on 
him, but his father shed tears on learning that Dr. Smith could 
not help him. 

Notwithstanding the scarcity of water which has prevailed here, 
forage does not seem scarce, and the cattle whom we met in 
carts, are by no means in a starving condition ; they are not equal 
to those of Marwar, but they greatly surpass the wretched bullocks 
of Bengal, and are superior even to the average of Hindostan. — 
Leemree has a small ruined brick fort and a little bazar, but 
nothing worthy of notice. For a small distance round the village 
the ground is cultivated, but all the further prospect is wilderness 
still. Near our tents many people, both men and women, were 
employed in cutting a barley-field. They reaped it with very small 
sickles, gathering it not by armsful as in England, but by handsful, 
cutting each time no more than they could grasp in the left hand; 
the crop was very thin and poor, with starveling ears, and wretch- 
edly short straw. I observed that here, as in Europe, gleaning is 
a privilege of the poor, and that a number of miserable looking 
women and children followed the reapers, picking up what they 
left. I was much grieved to see so sad a prospect for the ensu- 
ing year, and even now it is painful to look forwards to the 
distress to which most of these villages must be liable from the 
total drying up of their rivers and wells before the first rains can 
be expected. 

March 12. — We marched between sixteen and seventeen miles 
through a very wild and beautiful country, and down along, steep, 
and rugged descent, carried along the projecting ridge of a hill, 
with glens on each side. From the top of this Ghat I had ex- 
pected a fine view of the rich and cultivated country, as it had 
been described to me, of Guzerat, but was surprised to see a fine 
prospect indeed, but still of wooded hill and valley, and so far as 
the eye could reach, no trace of human habitation, except one 
miserable thatched shed close to us, where a picquet of police 
sepoys was stationed. As we descended the hill, however, Bheel 
huts were seen scattered among the trees, and we successively 
passed a thatched thannah surrounded with a bamboo fence, a 

Vol. II.— 1 1 



84 



JOURNEY TO JERREAH. 



small village chiefly of Bheels, called Doodeah, and after crossing 
a little river, or rather the dry bed of one, arrived in a beautiful 
glade surrounded with tall trees, in which our tents were pitched, 
near a part of the river which yet had water. 

In consequence of the alleged misbehaviour of the Bheels in 
this neighbourhood, I had directed some additional precautions to 
be observed in keeping the caravan together, and the soldiers in 
readiness for action. We met with no thieves, however, nor was 
it likely that they would come in the way of such a party. Indeed 
we found the Brinjarrees travelling the road without any addi- 
tional precaution ; they, however, are all armed, and such stout 
fellows that the thieves must be numerous and bold who would 
have any thing to say to them. The wagoners, likewise, of whom 
we met another large party, can travel through very wild coun- 
tries in much security ; they go in numbers, have mostly swords 
and shields, and often join their purses to hire an escort of Bheels, 
who, when trusted, are generally both brave and trustworthy. By 
day we frequently met them proceeding with an advanced and 
rear guard of these naked bow-men, and at night they draw their 
wagons into a circle, placing their cattle in the centre, and con- 
necting each ox to his yoke-fellow, and at length to the wain, by 
iron collars rivetted round their necks, and fastened to an iron 
chain, which last is locked to the cart-wheel. It is thus extremely 
difficult to plunder without awaking them ; and in addition to this, 
where the place is supposed to require it, one of their number 
stands sentry. Besides cocoa-nuts, we found they were carrying 
tobacco northwards. 

March 13. — This day being Sunday, I was happy to be able to 
halt, an order which I believe was very acceptable to all the men 
and animals in the camp, who after our late stony roads, were 
alike showing symptoms of fatigue. I read prayers as usual in the 
morning, and in consideration of the greatly advanced price of 
provisions, which was now a rupee for 14 seers of flour, I paid 
the bunyans for furnishing a seer of flour, or day's meal, to every 
person in the carnp. In the course of the afternoon I had the hap- 
piness to receive a packet of letters, forwarded by Mr. Williams, 
resident at the court of Baroda, containing a favourable account 
of my wife and children, and letters from my mother and sister. 
I dreamt of Hodnet all night ! 

March 14. — We were met, almost immediately on our setting 
out this morning, by two suwarrs in the service of the Raja of 
Barreah, who came to act as guides. We followed them among 
some romantic woody hills, and through some of the thickest 
jungle which we have traversed, to a small plain, or more open 
spot, with a thannah and village, named Jerreah, ten miles from 
Barreah. This is the usual halting-place, but the wells are now 



MAHARATTA ESCORT. 35 

insufficient for so large a party as mine, and I therefore had set- 
tled to go on to the city, which is five miles further, and not more 
than two or three oat of the direct road. In our way we were 
met by Captain Macdonald's moonshee, in charge of this part of 
the road, a mussulman, and native of Allahabad, accompanied by 
a crowd of very shabby horsemen, among whom he presented one 
to me as the Kamdar of the Raja of Barreah, and sent on his 
master's part to meet me. The moonshee was well-mounted and 
gaily dressed, with sword, dagger, shawl, inlaid trappings, and all 
the usual insignia of a Mahomedan gentleman. All the rest, the 
Kamdar among them, were wrapped up in coarse cotton cloth, 
on sorry horses, and had, with their long spears, buffalo-hide 
shields, and bare legs and heels, pretty exactly the appearance of 
the Abyssinian troops described by Bruce. Several men, naked all 
but the waistcloth, followed, with matchlocks on their shoulders, 
and the procession was closed by a number of Bheel archers, 
differing in no respect from those whom we had seen on the 
mountains. The only mark of state, and this is Abyssinian also, 
was that the " nagari, 1 ' or great kettle-drum, was carried at their 
head, and beat with single dubs, from time to time. Here the 
Rajpoot red turban loses its consequence, the reigning family of 
Baroda being Maharattas, to which race, apparently, the horsemen 
whom we met to-day belonged. This will, in a great measure, 
account for their shabby appearance, the Maharatta pretty gene- 
rally affecting a soldierly plainness, and to despise all show and 
parade. This, however, is not the only instance in which a ne- 
glect of appearances seems to exist in Guzerat. The hurkara who 
brought Mr. Williams' letter was a mere beggar in his dress, and 
so dirty as even beggars are seldom seen in Hindostan or Bengal. 
Yet on being asked what situation he held about the Residency, 
he described himself as a servant in regular pay, and receiving no 
less than eight rupees a month ! On such wages, and in such a 
situation, it would go hard indeed with a Hindoostanee but he 
would have decent clothing, shoes, a sword with silver or plated 
hilt, and an embroidered belt. The old man, however, for such 
he was, was cheerful and intelligent. He had brought the letter 
on foot from Baroda, in two days and a night, — professed to know 
the straighest roads all over Guzerat, and as the value of his rags 
did not exceed many pice, and nobody could suspect him of being 
a government functionary, he was probably one of the best mes- 
sengers who could be employed in a country so wild, and in so 
much anarchy, as this has usually been. 

Barreah stands very prettily in the midst of woody hills. 
Among the few fruit-trees which are immediately about its gates, 
I saw some coco-palms, the first which I had seen since I left 
Bengal, and a proof that we were again approaching the sea, 



S6 



RAJA OF BARREAH. 



The Raja, a child of twelve years old, with a cousin a little 
older, the Kamdar mentioned before, and a number of ragged 
attendants, came to see me in the evening, He was carried in a 
handsome palankeen, had the nigari and neshan of state carried 
before him, and was himself a pretty little boy, with an intelli- 
gent countenance, and neatly dressed, with sword, shield, and 
dagger, suited to his age, and a large red turban. His name is 
Prit'hee Lall Singh, and he is a Rajpoot, though those with him 
were Maharattas or Bheels, and he appeared to have few of his 
own caste either in his court or territory, both which shewed 
marks of much poverty. I received him with military honours, 
seated him on a chair at my right hand, and placed his cousin on 
another at my left. These attentions were more intended to 
please the boy's followers than himself, and as a proper means of 
keeping up his consequence in their estimation. But though I 
suppose he was hardly old enough to care about forms, I was 
amused to see how much the novelty of the sight delighted him, 
particularly the red coats and muskets of the sepoys, who are 
rarities in these secluded valleys. He listened, too, with much 
more interest and animation than is generally displayed by the up- 
per ranks of Hindoos in conversation, to the account which Dr. 
Smith gave him of the cities which I had visited, and of my in- 
tended long voyage by sea, and by the way of Lanca to Calcutta. 
The sea is called by all the natives of Central India " kala panee," 
(black water,) and they have the most terrible ideas of it and the 
countries beyond it. Sir John Malcolm relates, in his account of 
Malwah, that when Cheetoo, the Pindarree chief, was flying in 
hopeless misery from the English, he was often advised by his 
followers to surrender to their mercy. He was possessed, how- 
ever, by the idea that he should be transported, and this notion 
was to him more hideous than death. These men, who all one 
after another came in and obtained pardon, said that during their 
Captain's short and miserable sleep, he used continually to mur- 
mur, " kala panee !" " kala panee !" Thus haunted, he never 
would yield, till at length all his people, one by one, had forsaken 
him in the jungle, and a mangled body was found in a tyger's lair, 
which the sword, the ornamented saddle, and a letter-case con- 
taining some important papers and a general's commission from 
the Ex-Raja of Nagpoor, proved to have been once the scourge 
of Central India I A nearly similar case Dr. Smith said had fal- 
len under his own knowledge, of a Rheel chief, who, for murder 
and robbery, was sent to be confined at Allahabad. He was very 
anxious during the march to obtain spirituous liquors, which the 
officer commanding the escort, out of compassion, frequently sup- 
plied him with. When, however, he was drunk, he would never 
be pacified with the assurance that he was only to be confined at 



RAJA OF BARREAH. 



87 



Allahabad, and used to cry and rave about " kala panee," invok- 
ing " Company Sahib" to be merciful, and kill him, that he might 
be burned in Hindostan. With such feelings, they may well listen 
with astonishment to the long voyages which we voluntarily take, 
and of the strange lands which must lie beyond this frightful 
barrier. 

The Kamdar told us that Barreah had suffered grievously 
during the years of trouble ; but that their late Raja was a valiant 
man, and his little country being strong and easily defended, he 
had never paid tribute either to Maharaja or Pindarree, unless 
actually constrained by force, and had always revolted again as 
soon as the pressure of a present and victorious army was with- 
drawn. The Kamdar's own name, he said, was Nuttoo Baee.— 
After sitting some little time, an event, of which I had been from 
the first apprehensive, occurred, and I was told by the Kamdar 
that the Raja had brought a horse, of which he begged my ac- 
ceptance. I fought it off as long as I could, urging, with great 
truth, that it would really put me to difficulty, that I could not take 
it on ship-board, and did not know what I should do with it. The 
people present, all said it was " namoobaruk," (unlucky,) to send 
me away without a present, and at last the little Raja rose, and 
joining his hands, said, " Lord Sahib, for my sake take this horse." 
I was therefore obliged to yield, and was glad to believe that the 
present I had prepared for him, while I could very well spare it, 
was handsome, and likely to be useful to him. It consisted of 
three pieces of English flowered muslin, and a gilt daggar in a 
red and yellow velvet sheath, which I stuck in the little fellow's 
sash, and which appeared to please him greatly. The horse was 
now brought, and turned out to be really a very pretty Cutch 
poney, old certainly, and in bad condition, but still equal to 
some service. 

The Raja now took his leave, and went off with his cousin in 
the palankeen. The Kamdar, and another man who said he was 
a shroff, or banker, remained, and took some pains to explain a 
transaction in which they had been concerned, in regard to cer- 
tain arrears of the tribute paid by them to the British government. 
The late Kamdar, now in prison, had detained, they said, for two 
years back, the balance which he ought to have remitted to Mr. 
Macdonald, having been encouraged to do so by a report that the 
Raja of the Burmans had already taken Calcutta. The shroff 
then present had detained some part of his effects, but had applied 
them, if I understood right, to the payment of a debt to himself. 
He had, however, no share in the treasonable or fraudulent part 
of the transaction. I said that I would speak favourably of them 
in my letter to Captain Macdonald ; and his moonshee afterwards 
told me, that Captain Macdonald thought highly of this present 



83 



FAMINE IN BARREAH. 



Kamdar, and had treated him with marked kindness and confi- 
dence. Both Kamdar and shroff gave a dismal account of the 
distress of Barreah, and the neighbouring countries. In the small 
and barren territory of the Raja, containing about 270 villages, a 
very large proportion were almost without inhabitants ; and in the 
course of our afternoon's walk through the little town, I for the 
first time, saw some of the horrors of an Indian famine. The town 
had been, to all appearance, neat and substantially built, but a 
great many houses were uninhabited, and falling to decay. The 
cattle which they were driving in from the jungle for the night 
were mere skeletons, and so weak that they could hardly get out 
of the path. There were few beggars, for it seemed as if they had 
either died off or gone to some other land ; but all the people, 
even the bunyans, who generally look well fed, were pictures of 
squalid hunger and wretchedness ; and the beggars who happened 
to fall in my way ; alas ! I shall never forget them ! for I never 
before could have conceived life to linger in such skeletons. To 
one of these, an elderly man, naked, except a little rag fastened 
with a packthread round his waist, I gave all the pice I could 
collect from my own pocket or the servants who were with me ; 
and after all, they, I am sorry to say, amounted to only two or three 
anas. The man clasped them in his hands, burst into a ghastly 
laugh, and ran off as if in a hurry to buy food immediately. A 
little further was a still more dreadful figure, a Bheel, who did not 
beg, but was in a state of such visible starvation, that I called to 
him, and bid him go to the khansaman for something to eat. I 
followed him to my tents, and found that he had already had some 
scraps given him by the sweeper. I added to these a shoulder of 
mutton and a seer of flour, as well as, I am ashamed to say how 
little money, all of which the poor wretch tried to fold in the rag 
which he took from his loins. He seemed quite past every thing, 
and even indifferent to what I was doing for him. Some famish- 
ing children now came up, a poor man who said he was a butcher, 
but had no employ, and a black, who described himself as a Mus- 
sulman Fakir, and a native of Masuah in Abyssinia. I gave a few 
anas to each, reproaching myself all the time for giving so little, 
but apprehending that I should shortly have half the population 
round me, and that if I gave what I felt inclined to do, I should 
not leave myself enough for my own expences to Baroda, as well 
as for the many similar objects of distress which I might see by 
the way. 

The misery of this immediate neighbourhood has been mate- 
rially augmented by superstition. The calamity is want of water, 
yet there is a fine boolee close to the city, which, even now, is 
nearly full, but of which no use is made. A man fell into it and 
was drowned, two years ago, and the people not only desisted 



ORIGIN OF THE NAME COOLEE. 89 

from drinking the water themselves, (which for a certain time 
was not unnatural,) but from giving it their cattle, or irrigating 
their ground from it. For want of being stirred it is now, of 
course, putrid and offensive, but would soon recover if drawn off 
liberally for the fields, and become again useful both for beast and 
man. But they would starve, and in fact were starving, rather 
than incur this fancied pollution. The agricultural implements, 
and every thing else in this country, seem behind those of their 
Hindoostanee neighbours. The carts and ploughs are ruder and 
worse constructed, and their wells have not even the simple ma- 
chinery, if it deserves the name, for raising the water, which I 
never saw one without in Upper India, and which is always found 
in the wildest parts of Malwah, and the valley of the Nerbudda. 
We were as yet, however, in the jungles, and it would not have 
been fair to judge of Guzerat in general from the specimen which 
we now had seen. 

March 16. — From Barreah we went to Damma Ka Boolee, a 
cistern in the jungles, constructed by a person named Damma 
Jee, whose name 'it bears, by which is a small police thanna. 
About five miles further we crossed the dry and rocky bed of a 
river Mhysree, (the second of the name,) on whose banks our 
tents were pitched, in a romantic situation, near a scattered vil- 
lage. Immediately adjoining the houses, and in some parts of the 
bed of the river, were marks of a crop having been recently reap- 
ed, from fields, or rather small gardens, with high bamboo fences. 
This was almost the only approach to cultivation which we had 
seen since we entered the territories of Barreah, whose young 
sovereign, poor little fellow, would indeed have a " noble grist" 
if mowah-trees were mangoes, and jungle-grass corn. 

The head man of the village said he was a Kholee, the name 
of a degenerate race of Rajpoots in Guzerat, who, from the low 
occupations in which they are generally employed, have (under 
the corrupt name of Coolee) given a name, probably through the 
medium of the Portuguese, to bearers of burthens all over India. 
In Guzerat, they are described in Hamilton's Gazetteer, as dis- 
tinguished by their uncleanness, ferocity, and predatory habits, 
and as giving a great deal of trouble to government. This person, 
however, was of decent manners and appearance. Our supplies 
of every kind were brought with us from Barreah, so that we had 
no occasion to give him any trouble, fire-wood being at hand un- 
der these dry shrivelled trees for every body who chose to get it. 
To obtain water in sufficient quantity for the camp, it was neces- 
sary to dig three or four feet in the sand of the river's bed, when 
water soon rose to the surface. The other inhabitants of the vil- 
lage and neighbourhood were Bheels, but it gave me pleasure to 
see that these lowland Bheels, (notwithstanding the barrenness of 



90 MULLAOW. 

the soil, and the actual distress of the country,) were in seeming 
better plight than those we had met in the hills, to say nothing of 
the wretched beggars of Barreah. Their dwellings were larger, 
they had more ample mantles, that is, the dirty cotton cloth which 
covered their head and shoulders reached generally to their hips. 
Many of them had swords and shields, others a small but neatly- 
made hatchet, and one man, who was our guide through the wood 
to-day, and had a blanket of red baize flung over his shoulders, as 
he trotted along the rugged road before my horse's head reminded 
me exceedingly of the pictures of a North American Indian. He 
was one of the servants of the police thanna, so that the compa- 
ny's pay had probably put him in better plight than most of his 
neighbours. 

Near this village was the finest banvan-tree which I had ever 
seen, literally a grove rising from a single primary stem, whose 
massive secondary trunks, with their straightness, orderly arrange- 
ment, and evident connection with the parent stock, gave the 
general effect of a vast vegetable organ. The first impression 
which I felt on coming under its shade was, " What a noble place 
of worship !" I was glad to find that it had not been debased, as 
I expected to find it, by the symbols of idolatry, though some rude 
earthen figures of elephants were set up over a wicket leading to 
it, but at a little distance. I should exult, in such a scene, to col- 
lect a Christian congregation. The banks of the Mhysree are 
steep and rocky, and the granite rock is seen every where through 
the country, peeping out, or rising in large insulated masses, above 
the scanty soil. 

March 16. — Another march of about eight miles through jungle 
as usual, brought us to Aradiah, a poor deserted village, whence, 
through a more open country, we went four and a half more to 
Mullaow. Both these places belong to Sindia, and the latter 
has been a large village, but is now almost unpeopled, by the ty- 
ranny of Sindia's governor, Puttun-kar, and by this year of famine. 
We met a herd of cows on entering the place, mere anatomies, 
and so weak that when one of them fell in crossing the ruts of the 
road, she could not rise again. The country is here adapted for 
rice-cultivation, the water for which, in more auspicious years, 
has been supplied from a large artificial tank. This is not now 
quite dry, but is so low beneath its banks, as to be inapplicable to 
irrigation, and the fields, when I saw them, were perfectly waste 
and bare, and their soil the colour and consistency of a sandy 
turnpike-road. Flour was dearer than even at Barreah, being 
here only eleven seer for the rupee, and there Was no gram to be 
obtained, except the inferior sort, called " motee," which made 
two of the horses ill, though it is a common provender in many 
parts of India. 



FORT POWAGHUR. 



91 



I this day unexpectedly found the Raja's little horse very use- 
ful, Cabul having unfortunately hurt himself by his endeavours, 
when picketted, to get away from an elephant which broke loose 
and came too near him, and the suwarree elephant, being by the 
abominable carelessness of the mohout, saddle-galled. The Raja's 
horse had been described to me as very wild and ill-tempered, 
but I found that his restiveness had only arisen from the exces- 
sively severe bit with which the natives ride, and in my bridle he 
went perfectly well. Like all the horses used by men of rank in 
India, he would not trot, but had an elastic springy amble, grace- 
ful in itself, and agreeable to the rider, but ill calculated for a long 
stage, since it must knock up the horse much sooner than the 
usual paces of English travelling. 

We had now apparently left the hills ; there was still, however, 
one very fine insulated mass of rock on our left, with a large for- 
tress on the top, called Powaghur. It belongs to Sindia, to whom 
also belongs the city of Champanoer, at its base. I here received 
letters again from Baroda, brought by two miserably ragged and 
dirty men, who called themselves servants of the Resident ! They 
had not even the common brass lotee for drinking, which few 
beggars are without in the eastern and northern provinces, but 
merely a gourd-shell, and instead of the spiked and painted staff 
which there every common Dak-messenger carries, had long rag- 
ged staves plucked out of some hedge, while their rags were 
scarcely enough to answer the purposes even of Indian decency. 
All the people, indeed, whom we see, now that we are arrived in 
the plains, are in appearance, cleanliness, clothes, and even sta- 
ture, inferior to those both of Hindostan and Bengal. The lan- 
guage differs much less than I expected, but there are several 
Arabic words, which no less than the Abyssinian beggar I met at 
Barreah, remind me that I am drawing near a coast which has 
been long and inseparably connected, by commerce and other 
ties, with Arabia and Africa. I saw no coco-trees to-day, but 
the tara-palms are numerous. 

A great man, a relation of Sindia's who was on a journey, 
took up his quarters at Mullaow to-day. His coming was an- 
nounced by the sound of the nagari, and by a trumpet, so exactly 
resembling that which ushers in Mr. Punch, that I could have 
thought that he had arrived in person. In the morning, however^ 
when my drum and fife beat the reveille, the band of the Maha- 
ratta chieftain tried to imitate them, but with little success. I 
did not learn his name, indeed I was very closely occupied with 
some absurd tracasseries of which I had just received accounts, 
which seem likely to give me a good deal of trouble, respecting 
some of the good people of my diocese in Southern India. It is 
enough to make one sad, if not angrv, to see how many bye-ends, 

Vol. II.— 12 



9S MULLAOW TO KUNGERRIE— DOWLUT RAOW. 



how many personal rivalries, and how many mutual suspicions 
of ill intentions are allowed to mix even in the noblest of all 
works, by men who profess to be, and I believe mainly are, ac- 
tuated by the same motives. Now must I speak all these men 
fair, to prevent their coming to an open schism, and very proba- 
bly offend them all, because I cannot, and will not, go so far on 
either side as its supporters wish me. 

March 18. — From Mullaow to Kunjerree is a march of twelve 
miles, the greater part still jungle, . and the rest seems desolate 
and abandoned by its cultivators. Yet the soil, in better years, 
and when water is abundant, seems well calculated for rice ; 
there are many groves of fruit-trees and tara-palms, and a num- 
ber of small streams, which properly and substantially dammed 
up, as has been done in Rajpootana and Meywar, might have in 
a great measure secured these districts from the miseries of the 
present year. But every thing seems to shew that we are in one 
of the least improved, as it has been, till very lately, one of the 
most anarchical and disturbed parts of India. We passed a large 
number of Brinjarrees who were carrying salt into Malwah, and 
were to bring back corn. They differed in some respects from 
their more northern brethren. Most of these last have match- 
locks, but the Guzerattees had all bows, (of the Bheel construc- 
tion, but larger and stronger) arrows, sword and shield, except 
one man who had a sword and broad partizan or halbert. Even 
the children had, many of them, bows and arrows suited to their 
strength, and I saw one young woman equipped in the same man- 
ner. The men were very scantily clothed, but fine looking and 
powerful, though not tall fellows, and the females were the lar- 
gest and most masculine whom I have yet seen in India. They a 
little resembled the rawg--women, not of Arracan, but of Shrop- 
shire and Staffordshire, in their firm step and erect carriage, and 
though toasted by the sun to a thorough brick-colour, and with 
much coarseness of feature, were not so black as the Bengalees. 
Their dress was a roll of red cloth, wrapped round their bodies 
like the natives of the South Sea Islands, and a red mantilla, like 
a veil, which covered their heads, shoulders, and breasts, and 
shewed only the lower part of their coarse sinewy arms, except 
when they raised them to beat the cattle out of their way. They 
had all bracelets of red sealing-wax, and massive anklets of white 
metal, like silver ; they had also metal rings in their noses. 

At Kunjeree, which is still in Sindia's limit, I found that the 
Maharaja, in all this part of his territory, was seldom called by his 
proper name, Dowlut Raow, but by the Arabic and Mussulman 
appellation which, singularly enough for a Hindoo, he has assum- 
ed within these few years, of " Ali Jan" — •" Exalted of the Lord s " 
The fort of Powaghur was the residence of the late governor, 



MAHARATTA. HORSE. 



S3 



Pnttunkur, whose family are said to be still living there. He 
himself is gone to Gwalior, but whether actually as prisoner or 
not we heard different statements; the country people said that 
he was, probably because they hoped so, The brahmins, he 
also heing a brahmin, denied it. The present governor of the 
province, Gungadur Appajee, is residing at Godra. 

We were overtaken this morning by the principal moonshee of 
the residency, a shrewd Maharatta brahmin, accompanied by two 
others, aides-du-camp to the Guicwar, who had some days been 
in quest of me with letters, having marched to meet me via Godra, 
and thus gone as far as Doodeah before they found their mistake. 
They had with them two of Mr. Williams's chobdars, and two of 
the Raja's, with divers irregular horse, a standard, nagari, and four 
regular cavalry. There was a good deal of parade, but not equal 
in grave and orderly magnificence to what I had seen in Hindostan. 
Still I found that in Guzerat, as well as elsewhere in India, pomp 
was attended to. I was agitated with delight, not unmixed with 
painful anxiety, on hearing that my dear wife was probably already 
at sea on her way to meet me, with one of my little ones, having 
been compelled, alas ! to leave the other in Calcutta. 

March 18. — From Kunjerree to Jerrdda is twelve miles, 
through an open and, in less unfavourable years, a well cultivated 
country. Even now I saw some fields of flourishing sugar-cane 
watered from wells, on examining which I foun^, to my surprise, 
that the water was very near the surface, and that had the people 
possessed more capital, for industry, I do not suspect them of 
wanting, they might have, in a great degree, defied the want of 
rain. We found Archdeacon Barnes' tent here, and he himself 
arrived at breakfast time. I had not seen him since he left Oxford, 
and found him less changed by the lapse of seventeen years, ten 
of them spent in India, than I expected. In other respects he is 
scarcely altered at all, having the same cheerful spirits and unaf- 
fected manner which he used to have when a young master of 
arts. From him I learned that Mr. Williams and the Guicwar 
Raja both meant to come out to meet me the next day, at some 
little distance from Baroda. 

I walked in the afternoon with him and Dr. Smith, to look at 
the Maharatta horse, who had accompanied the Raja's vakeel and 
Mr. Williams's dewan. They were fifty in number, the horses 
much better, both in size and spirit than those usually ridden by 
the irregular cavalry of Hindostan, the men inferior in height, 
good looks and dress ; the arms and appointments of both pretty 
nearly the same ; some had spears, most had matchlocks, shields 
and swords. 



94 



CHAPTER XXV* 

BARODA TO BOMBAY. 

ENTRANCE INTO BARODA NAMDAR KHAN CANTONMENT CHURCH- 
CHARACTER OF THE GUICWAR CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH — ■ 

VISIT TO THE GUICWAR VISIT FROM NATIVES GUICWAR RETURNS 

THE VISIT DEPARTURE FROM BARODA CROSSING THE MHYE — - 

KHOLEES — SWAAMEE NARAIN HOT WINDS INTERVIEW WITH SWAA- 

MEE NARAIN— ARRIVAL AT KAIRAH— INSALUBRITY OF CLIMATE JAIN 

TEMPLE DEPARTURE FROM KAIRAH DIFFICULTY IN CROSSING THE 

MHYE BROACH BANIAN-TREE IN AN ISLAND ON THE NERBUDDA 

SURAT EMBARKATION ARRIVAL AT BOMBAY. 

March 19. — From Jerrdda to Baroda is thirteen miles over a 
bare and open country, the roads much cut up. Expecting to 
meet " great men" we made our march in regular order, the 
nagari beating and Maharatta standard flying before us, followed 
by my chobdars and a chobdar of the resident's, who gave the 
word for marching in a sort of shrill cry. " Chulo Maharatta !" 
Forward Maharattas ! The vakeels and the dewan followed with 
the chief part of my escort. After marching about eight miles, 
we were met by a body of horse in Persian dresses, under a young 
officer splendidly mounted on a dapple-grey Arab horse, with 
the most showy accoutrements which I had seen in India, and a 
shield of rhinoceros-hide as transparent as horn, and ornamented 
with four silver bosses. He announced himself as sent by the 
Resident to inquire after my health, and advanced in a very 
graceful manner to embrace me. Foreseeing that 1 should prob- 
ably have these sort of ceremonies, I had chosen for the day my 
little Barreah horse, to whom my servants had given the name of 
Rawul, who having received his breeding at a native court, under- 
stood these ceremonies better, and endured them more patiently 
than either Cabul or Nedjeed would have done. After this 
ceremony, and a little more conversation with the dewan, the 
young officer, who was evidently a dandy of the first brilliancy in his 
own way, began to ride before me, shewing off his horse and horse- 
manship in all the usual manege of the East, curvetting, wheeling, 
galloping forwards, and stopping short. He did all this extremely 
well, but some of his followers in imitating him were not so skilful 
or so fortunate, and one of them got a pretty rude fall in crossing 
some of the deep ruts with which the road was intersected. This 



ENTRANCE INTO BARODA— BARODA. 



95 



gave me a good excuse for desiring them to ride gently, a measure 
desirable on more accounts than one, since the dust was almost 
intolerable. About a mile further, Mr. Williams met us, with 
several other gentlemen, and an escort of regular troopers, one of 
whom carried an union-jack before him, a custom which is common, 
he told me in Guzerat and the Deckan, though not practised, as 
far as I have seen, in other parts of India. He told me that " his 
highness" had just left his palace as he passed the gate of the town, 
and that we should find him without the gates under some trees. 
We therefore quickened our pace as much as was compatible 
with the comfort of our attendants on foot, and with the move- 
ments of the suwarree elephant, who was, I found, considered as 
an essential part of the show, and was directed to follow me closely, 
though with an empty howdah. On the spot designated we found 
a numerous body of cavalry, camels, whose riders had each a large 
bundle of rockets, and infantry armed with matchlocks and swords , 
of whom a large proportion were Arabs. These troops made a 
long lane, at the end of which were seen several elephants, on one 
of which, equipped with more than usual splendour, I was told 
was the Maharaja. The whole show greatly exceeded my expecta- 
tions, and surpassed any thing of the kind which I had seen, partic- 
ularly as being all Asiatic, without any of the European mixture 
visible in the ceremonies of the court of Lucknow. We here 
dismounted and advanced up the lane on foot, when different 
successive parties of the principal persons of the city advanced to 
meet us, beginning with a young man whom Mr. Williams intro- 
duced to me as secretary to the Raja and son of the brahmin Va- 
keel Shastree, whom the Peishwa, Bajee Rao, murdered by the 
advice of Trimbukjee, and thence proceeding through the differ- 
ent gradations of bankers and financial men, military officers, (of 
whom many were Patans,) according to their ranks, Vakeels of 
foreign states, ministers, ending with the prime minister, (all of 
whom were brahmins) the Raja's brother-in-law, his nephew, a 
little boy of six years old, the Raja's brother, the heir-apparent, a 
child also of about six, and the Maharaja himself, a short stout- 
built young man, of twenty-seven years old. The usual forms of 
introduction and enquiries after health followed, and his highness, 
after asking when I would come to see him, for which I fixed 
Monday evening, remounted his elephant, and we proceeded dif- 
ferent ways into the city, which is large and populous, with tole- 
rably wide streets and very high houses, at least for India, chiefly 
built of wood, which I had not seen for a long time, with tiled 
sloping roofs, and rows along the streets something like those of 
Chester. The palace, which is a large shabby building, close to 
the street, four stories high, with wooden galleries projecting over 
each other, is quite a specimen of this kind. There are some to- 



96 



NAMDAR KHAN, 



lerable pagodas, but no other building which can be admired. The 
streets are dirty, with many swine running up and down, and no 
signs of wealth, though, as I was told, there was a good deal of its 
reality, both among the bankers and principal tradesmen. The 
Residency is a large ugly house without verandahs, and painted 
blue, as stuccoed houses sometimes are in England. It was at 
this time under repair, and Mr. Williams, with his sister, were en- 
camped in a grove of mangoes about a mile from the city ; our 
tents were pitched near his. In passing through the city I saw 
two very fine hunting tygers in silver chains, and a rhinoceros 
(the present of Lord Amherst to the Guicwar) which is so tame 
as to be ridden by a mohout, quite as patiently as an elephant. 
There were also some very striking group es of the native horse- 
men, who thronged the street like a fair ; one of them, a very tall 
and large man on a powerful horse, was cased completely in chain 
armour, like the figure representing a crusader at the exhibition 
of ancient armour in Pall-Mall. He had also a long spear shod 
with silver, a very large shield of transparent rhinoceros-hide, also 
with silver studs, and was altogether a most shewy and picturesque 
cavalier. Many of the others had helmets, vant-braces, gauntlets, 
&c. but none were so perfectly armed as he was. 

During our ride Mr. Williams introduced to me more particu- 
larly the officer with the splendid equipment who came to meet 
me, by the name of Namdar Khan, a native of Persia, and com- 
mander of the Residency escort. He had been aids-du-camp to 
Sir John Malcolm during the Pindarree war, and was a man of 
very distinguished and desperate bravery, though, certainly the 
greatest coxcomb, as he was also one of the handsomest young 
men I ever saw. Nothing could exceed the smartness of his em- 
broidery, the spotless purity of his broad belts, the art with which 
his eyelids were blackened with antimony, his short curling-beard, 
whiskers, and single love-lock, polished with rose-oil, or the more 
military and becoming polish of his sword, pistols, and dagger ; he 
held his bridle with his right hand, having lost the other by the 
bursting of a gun. He had, however, an artificial hand made in 
Baroda, which, so far as show was concerned, and when covered 
like the other with a white military glove, did very well, but 
which enhanced the merit of its wearer's excellent horsemanship, 
since it must have made the management of his charger more dif- 
ficult. In his instance, and in that of many other natives of 
rank who had been introduced to me this morning, I already per- 
ceived what I had afterwards abundant opportunity of observing, 
that they associated with Europeans and were treated by them 
on much more equality and familiarity than is usual in Hindostan. 
Some of this may arise from the frank and friendly manner which 
distinguishes Mr. Williams individually, as well as the unusual 



CANTONMENT AND CHURCH. gfl 

fluency with which he speaks Hindostanee. But I apprehend 
that more may be attributed to the lively temper and neglect of 
forms which are general among the Maharattas themselves, and 
which are remarkably opposed to the solemn gravity of a Mussul- 
man court, as well as to the long and recent wars in which the 
Guicwar and the English have been allies, and in which the prin- 
cipal officers of both nations were forced into constant and friendly 
intercourse. 

Jn the evening I drove out with Mr. and Miss Williams to see 
the cantonnlfent and the Church. The former reminded me of 
one of the villages near London, having a number of small brick 
houses with trellis, wooden verandahs, sloping tiled roofs, and 
upper stories, each surrounded by a garden with a high green 
hedge of the milkbush. The effect is gay and pretty, but I doubt 
whether the style of architecture is so well suited to the climate 
as the common " up-country 11 bungalow, with a thatched roof 
and a deep verandah all over. The Church is a small but con- 
venient and elegant Gothic building, accommodating about 400 
persons extremely well, and raised at an expense of not more 
than 12,000 Bombay or 10,000 sicca rupees. House rent and 
building seem cheap on this side of India, but every thing else 
excessively dear. The best houses in Bombay may be got for 
350 rupees a month, and the best house in Baroda cantonment 
for 50 ; on the other hand provisions are twice, and wages almost 
three times the rate usual in the upper provinces, and though 
fewer servants are kept, the diminution in this respect is not 
enough to make up the difference. Most of the household ser- 
vants are Parsees, the greater part of whom speak English. They 
are of lighter complexion than the majority of their eastern 
neighbours, and in dress, features, and countenance, nearly re- 
semble the Armenians. They are good w r aiters but less respect- 
ful, and I think less cleanlv than their brethren in the east. In- 
stead of " Koee hue, 11 who 1 s there ? the way of calling a servant 
is " boy, 11 a corruption, I believe, of " bhaee, 11 brother. 

The Bombay sepoys were long remarkable for their very low 
stature ; at present they have had so many recruits from Hindostan 
that the difference is greatly removed, and theirgrenadier companies 
have a full proportion of tall men among them. Their battalion 
companies are, indeed, still under-sized. Nor have they, like the 
regiments in Hindostan, drawn recruits from the purer castes 
alone. Many of their number are Kholees, some are Boras, and 
no inconsiderable number Jews, of whom a great number is 
found on the coast of Cattywar, Cambay, &c. Their pay and 
allowances are considerably better than those of the Bengal Pre- 
sidency, and, altogether, the taller men among them have more 
the appearance of English troops than even the fine strapping 



98 GUICWAR OF BARODA. 

soldiers of Hindostan. They are said, indeed, to fall far short of 
these in sobriety and peaceable temper and obedience to their 
officers. In bravery they are surpassed by no troops in the world, 
and this is fortunate, since no army can have a more troublesome 
country to manage. 

The Guicwar is said to be a man of talent, who governs his 
states himself, his minister having very little weight with him, 
and governs them well and vigorously. His error is too great a 
fondness for money, but as he found the state involved in debt, 
even this seems excusable. His territory is altogether consider- 
able, both in Cutch, Cattywar, and Guzerat, though strangely in- 
tersected and cut up by the territories of Britain, Sindia, and 
several independant Rajas. Those of Lunwarra and Doongur- 
poor, which used to hold of Sindia, now pay him tribute also, as 
do the Rajas of Palhanpoor and Cattywar. Still his income, 
amounting to no less than eighty lacks, or nearly, £800,000, ex- 
ceeds greatly any thing which might have been expected from 
the surface under his rule, and the wild and jungly nature of some 
parts of it, and can only be accounted for by the remarkable 
population and fertility of those districts which are really pro- 
ductive. Out of these revenues he has only 3000 irregular horse 
to pay, his subsidiary force being provided for out of the ceded 
territory, and he is therefore, probably, in more flourishing cir- 
cumstances, and possesses more real power than any sovereign of 
India except Runjeet Singh. Sindia, and perhaps, the Raja of 
Mysore, might have been excepted, but the former, though with 
three times his extent of territory, has a very imperfect controul 
over the greater part of it, and, indeed, cannot govern his own 
house : and the latter is, apparently, intent on nothing but amusing 
himself, and wasting his income on costly follies of state coaches 
and gimcracks, to which the Guicwar wisely prefers the manner 
of living usual with his ancestors. 

On Sunday, March 20, 1 consecrated the church, preached, and 
administered the sacrament. The chaplain is Mr. Keays, a young 
man who is well spoken of, and seems to like his situation ; he 
and his family have as yet enjoyed good health, though Guzerat 
is reckoned one of the worst climates in India, being intensely 
hot the greater part of the year, with a heavy thickness of atmos- 
phere which few people can endure. It is in the same latitude 
with Calcutta, and seems to be what Bengal would be without 
the glorious Ganges. 

March 21. — The morning of this day I was busily employed in 
preparing for the discharge of all my Hindoostanee people, who 
were impatient to return, together with their elephants and 
camels. Mr. Williams kindly assured me that all necessary aids 
of the sort would be forthcoming from the commissariat. 



VISIT TO THE GUICWAR, 



99 



In the evening we went in all the state which we could mus- 
ter, to pay our visit to the Guicwar, who received us, with the 
usual Eastern forms, in a long narrow room, approached hy a 
very mean and steep stair-case. The hall itself was hung with 
red cloth, adorned with a great number of paltry English prints, 
lamps, and wall-shades, and with a small fountain in the centre. 
At the upper end were cushions piled on the ground as his high- 
ness's musnud, with chairs placed in a row on his left hand for 
the Resident and his party. The evening went off in the usual 
form, with Nach girls, Persian musicians, &c. and the only things 
particularly worthy of notice were, that his highness went through 
the form of giving the Resident and myself a private audience in 
his own study, a little hot room up sundry pair of stairs, with a 
raised sofa, a punkah, and other articles of European comfort, as 
well as two large mirrors, a print of Bonaparte, and another of 
the duke of Wellington. He there shewed me a musical snuff- 
box, with a little bird, in which he seemed to take much pride, 
and an imperfect but handsome copy of the Shah Nameh, of 
which he desired me to accept. The rest of our conversation con- 
sisted of enquiries after the Governor General, the war, the dis- 
tance from Calcutta, and other such princely topics, till, a rea- 
sonable time for our consultation having elapsed, we returned 
down stairs again. The next thing that struck me was the manner 
in which the heir apparent, the little boy before mentioned, made 
his appearance in the durbar, announced by nearly the same ac- 
clamations as his father, and salami ng, as he advanced, to the 
persons of rank, with almost equal grace, and more than equal 
gravity. After bending very low, and touching the ground before 
his father's seat, he went up to Mr. Williams with the appearance 
of great pleasure, climbed upon his knee, and asked him for a 
pencil and paper with which he began to scribble much like my 
own dear little girl. The third circumstance I remarked was the 
general unconstrained, and even lively conversation which was 
carried on between the Raja, his courtiers, and Mr. Williams, 
who talked about their respective hunting feats, the merits of their 
elephants, &c. much as mutatis mutandis, a party in England 
might have done. The Raja was anxious to know whether I had 
observed his rhinoceros, and his hunting tygers, and offered to 
show me a day's sport with the last, or to bait an elephant for me, 
a cruel amusement which is here not uncommon. He had a long 
rallying dispute with one of the Thakoors as to an elephant which, 
the Raja said, the Thakoor had promised to give him for this 
sport ; and I do not think he understood my motives for declining 
to be present at it. A Mussulman, however, who sat near him, 
seemed pleased by my refusal, said it was " very good," and asked 
me if any of the English clergy attended such sports. I said it 



100 



COURT OF BARODA, 



was a maxim with most of us to do no harm to any creature need- 
lessly ; which was, he said, the doctrine of their learned men also, 
Mr. Williams told me that this sort of conversation, which was 
very little disturbed by the most strenuous efforts which the poor 
singers and dancing-girls could make to attract attention, was 
characteristic of a Maharatta durbar, and that he had known the 
most serious business carried on by fits and starts in the midst of 
all this seeming levity. At last, about eight o'clock, the Raja told 
us that he would keep us from our dinner no longer ; and the 
usual presents were brought in, which were, however, much 
more valuable than any which I had seen, and evidently of a 
kind, very few of which were within the compass of my redeem- 
ing from the company. About nine we got back to dinner, hungry 
enough, and a little tired, but for my own part both amused and 
interested. 

The Raja offered to return my visit next day ; but, knowing 
that Tuesday is, in the estimation of all Hindoos, unlucky, I named 
Wednesday in preference, telling him my reason. He answered 
very politely, that he should account every day lucky in which he 
had the opportunity of cultivating my acquaintance, but was evi- 
dently well pleased. He had already, out of civility, and in con- 
sequence of being informed that I received no visits on Sunday, 
waved one prejudice in my favour : since the day on which I 
arrived, being the last day of their month, was one on which he 
usually never stirred from home. 

I forgot to mention that before breakfast this morning I rode 
to see a tomb in the neighbourhood, of tolerable Mussulman 
architecture, but much dilapidated, and really not worth dis- 
mounting for. Its apparent estimation in the eyes of the in- 
habitants of Baroda, gave me but an humble idea of the ruins of 
Ahmedabad. 

March 22. — I was busy all day writing, and have nothing par- 
ticular to record, except that the hot wind had now set in very 
decidedly, and was oppressive, though in my own tent, and by the 
help of tatties, I escaped better than most people. A tent, over- 
shadowed as mine fortunately is by thick trees, is an excellent 
house for such weather, and better than any rooms in the small 
house, which, during the daytime, Mr. and Miss Williams occupy. 
But the English of this Presidency do not seem to manage the hot 
weather so well as those of Bengal and Hindostan. 

March 23. — Several of the principal Thakoors of the court, 
as well as some Patan military chiefs, and some wealthy shroffs of 
the city, sent messages to Mr. Williams to express a desire to call 
on me, and become better acquainted than was possible at a 
public Durbar. This was a sort of interest, Mr. Williams said, 
which he had never known them show before ; and he therefore 




VISIT OF THE NOBLES. 



101 



proposed that I should give up the morning to see native company, 
good-naturedly promising to stay with me, both to introduce my 
visitors, and to help my imperfect knowledge of the language. — 
About twenty persons called, comprising the greater part of those 
to whom I had been introduced the day of my arrival. Three of 
them were very young men, or rather boys, the sons of the late 
minister, Shastree, who, as I have already stated, was assassinated 
at Poonah by the suggestion of Trimbukjee. The youngest, a 
very fine and interesting lad, was learning English, which he spoke 
very well and with but little foreign accent. I asked him what 
English work he studied, and he answered, " I am reading the 
book of Elegant extracts." His tutor is a Parsee. Some little 
time since he had picked up, Mr Williams said, a New Testament, 
and read it with delight ; till his Brahmin Gooroo, finding the 
nature of the book, took it from him. This is the first instance 
of such jealousy which has fallen in my way, and for this, I sus- 
pect that the insinuations of the Parsee tutor (all of whose nation 
are very suspicious about Christianity,) were rather to blame than 
the prejudices of the simple Hindoo. I hope to send him another 
book from Bombay, which may offend prejudice less, and yet may 
eventually, by God's blessing, be of some use to him. 

There were two or three Patans who asked many questions 
about the present state of Rohilcund, and listened with great 
interest to the account which I gave them of the improvements 
making and intended to be made at Bareilly, the repair of Hafez 
Rehmut 1 s tomb, and the appropriation of the town duties to these 
and other local purposes. One of these men, who holds a high 
military command, but whose name has escaped me, was a re- 
lation to the tusseeldar of Futtehgunge, and a very well-bred and 
sensible man. He came earliest and sate longest, and, from his 
pure Hindoostanee, I understood him the best of the whole party. 
He, and another of his countrymen, gave me very affectionate em- 
braces at parting, saying, "Do not forget Rohilcund and Guzerat." 
Fond as they seemed of the former country, they did not appear 
to have any intention of returning thither. A CuttyvVar Raja 
asked much about Meru and Badrinath, and meandered on, at 
some length, about Indra's Heaven which lay beyond them. I 
did not understand much of his story, which was at length cut 
short by some contemptuous ejaculations of his Mussulman neigh- 
bour from Rohilcund, who said that he remembered the hills 
very well, but that all this was nonsense. Mr. Williams observ- 
ed that the Lord Sahib had also seen " KM" " Aye," said the 
Mussulman, " those are famous hills ! There is the Mount Al 
Judi (Ararat) and the Ark of Huzrut Noah (St. Noah) may be 
seen there to this day. There are also Hajiuge and Majiuge 
(Gog and Magog)." I told him that I had seen KM, but had not 



102 



VISIT OF THE RAJAo 



been so" far as Mount Ararat ; though I believe that the " burra 
Sahib" (Mr. Williams) had seen it, which he confirmed, having 
been in Persia with Sir John Malcolm ; but that I had seen Kaf 
from Russia, which lay on the other side. Another Mussulman 
here expressed a surprise, which was both natural and shewed 
his intelligence. " Did you see it in this journey ? I thought 
that both Kaf and Russia were a very great distance from any 
part of Hindostan." I explained to him, of course, where my 
former travels had been, and found that he was well acquainted 
with the names both of Russia and Ustumboul, which last he 
explained, of his own accord, to be " Cunstuntinoopla," though 
he did not seem to know much about their relative situations. 
This was a young man, whom the other called 4, Nawab," but 
whose name I could not catch. He asked after " Duke Welling- 
ton," and said that his father had been well-known to him dur- 
ing the war in the Deckan. Mr. Williams asked the Cuttywar 
Raja some questions respecting a new sect of Hindoos which 
had arisen in his neighbourhood, and which he told me at the 
same time, in English, that this Raja had attempted to put down 
by force of arms, but had not been allowed to do so. He an- 
swered in rather a fretful tone, that " there were too many of 
them," and in reply to a question, what their religion was ? — that 
"they had no religion at all, but a hatred of their superiors, and 
of all lawful authority." I asked this orthodox old gentleman if he 
could give me any information about the vagabond pilgrims whom 
I met near Gurmukteser, and who described themselves as com- 
ing from the neighbourhood of Ahmedabad. He said that by 
my account of them they were not true Hindoos ; but that there 
were many wild people in the district who professed a sort of 
Hindooism. Those whom I encountered were probably pil- 
grims ; and if I had drawn a line in the sand across their path, 
they would have been obliged to go round one of its extremities, 
not daring to step over it. I asked if the character which they 
bore of being "Thugs," was deserved? He seemed never to 
have heard of the name, which was, how T ever, perfectly under- 
stood by the Patans. I conclude, therefore, that the practice is 
not so common in these provinces as it is said to be further 
North. 

About sun-set the Raja came in state, and was received 
accordingly by Mr. Williams in a very large dinner tent, where 
nearly the same forms took place (mutatis mutandis) as occurred 
during my visit to him. The little boy was put on my knee to- 
day, partly, I believe, as a compliment, and partly to give the 
Guicwar an opportunity of talking over some private business with 
Mr. Williams, (as I afterwards learned) whom he informed in alow 
voice, that he had a daughter a year older than this little boy whom, 



VISIT OF THE RAJA. 



103 



consequently, it was high time he should bestow in marriage; 
that he had an excellent match for her in the son of a Raja in the 
Deckan, but that he had no money to pay the necessary expences ; 
and hoped, therefore, that the government would join him in a 
security for five lacs of rupees, in order that he might obtain them 
at more reasonable interest than he could otherwise hope to do. 
Mr. Williams, in the same voice, told him that the government he 
much feared, would never consent to such a measure ; on which 
the Raja came down in his request to four and even three lacs, his 
wish to obtain which last sum, Mr. Williams promised to transmit 
to government. This, Mr. Williams afterwards told me, is a spe- 
cimen of the way in which important business was often introduced 
and discussed in the midst of crowds and ceremonial parties. On 
my observing that the wish to obtain money did not tally with all 
which I had heard of the Raja's wealth and covetousness, he an- 
swered that, the Raja always distinguished his personal savings 
from the national property ; that he expected his daughter to be 
portioned out by the state ; but that if he could get sufficient secu- 
rity, he was able and likely, under a borrowed name, himself to 
lend the money. While this conversation was going on, I was 
doing my best to entertain my little friend, to whom, in addition 
to the present destined for him on account of the company, I gave 
a huge native coloured drawing on vellum, of the Howa Mahil at 
Jeypoor, with which he seemed greatly pleased, and which, by the 
explanation of the different objects which it contained, afforded 
more conversation than it would have been otherwise easy forme 
to keep up with him, though he was really a lively and forward 
boy. He was fond of riding both horses and elephants, but the 
u Sircar," sovereign, (meaning his father) had not yet taken him out 
hunting. He had begun to read and write in Maharatta, but in 
no other language, and was fonder of drawing pictures than letters, 
the same word, " likna," being used both for drawing and wri- 
ting. His father, who engaged as he was on the other side, con- 
trived very dexterously to bestow all necessary attention on 
me, bid him ask me about my journey, but I do not think he 
knew any of the names of places which I mentioned, except, 
perhaps, Calcutta and Delhi. All the rest of the world was, in 
his vocabulary, " Belattee." 

There was a good deal of Persian singing and instrumental 
music, the character of which does not seem a want of harmony, 
but dullness and languor. The airs were sung sotto voce ; the 
instruments, chiefly guitars, were low-toned and struck in a 
monotonous manner ; and the effect intended to be produced 
seemed rather repose and luxurious languor, than any more 
ardent or animated feeling. One man, a native of Lucknow, had 
a good natural voice, and two of the women sang prettily. The 



104 



MOUNTAIN RAVINES. 



tunes had first parts only. The Nach women were, as usual, 
ugly, huddled up in huge bundles of red petticoats ; and their 
exhibition as dull and insipid to an European taste, as could well 
be conceived. Tn fact, nobody in the room seemed to pay them 
any attention, all being engaged in conversation, though in an 
under voice, and only with their near neighbours. About eight, 
the Raja went away ; and we sate down to dinner, but not till I 
had discovered that the greater part of the camels which the Raja 
had promised to lend me for my journey, had not yet arrived, and 
that it would be impossible for me to send off, as I had intended, 
my baggage and servants that night. I now regretted that I had 
dismissed the Hindoostanee elephants and camels, but there was 
no use in repining. 

March 25. — This morning Dr. Smith and I were up at four 
o'clock, and, with a good deal of exertion, succeeded in assembling 
the camels and bearers, and fairly setting our servants on their way. 
We ourselves, remained till the evening, and then set off to join 
the camp. Archdeacon Barnes accompanied me and Mr. Williams 
and several other gentlemen rode out with me three or four miles 
to a boolee, at which I found, to my surprise, that in addition to 
the four Bombay troopers whom he had sent me, before we were 
joined by Bappoojee Maharatta (hisDewan) with six silver sticks 
and spear-men, and above fifty Guicwar horse, with their standard 
and nigari. I pleaded that these were really unnecessary, con- 
sidering the numerous guard of sepoys, fifty men, whom I had 
sent on with the baggage. He answered, however, that though 
less might in Hindostan, here these outward forms were both de- 
sirable and necessary ! To this I could say nothing, and pro- 
ceeded on my march ; though I could not help thinking that since 
the days of Thomas a Becket or Cardinal Wolsey, an English 
Bishop had seldom been so formidably attended. From Mr. 
Williams I had received in every respect very gratifying attention 
and kindness ; and it was a great satisfaction to me to know that 
he intended to visit Bombay at the same time with myself, and 
that my dear wife also would know and like him. 

Our road for about eight miles lay over a highly cultivated 
country, with many round-topped trees and high green hedges ; 
the villages, which were numerous, were all more in the Euro- 
pean than the Indian style ; and, to complete the likeness, had 
large stacks of hay in their neighbourhood piled up and thatched 
like those in England. The custom of keeping hay as fodder 
does not exist in any other part of India which I have seen, but 
is here universal. As day closed we left the open country, and 
entered some extremely deep and narrow ravines, with sides of 
crumbling earth, the convexity of which was evidently the work 
of the waters of the monsoon in their annual course to the Mhye. 



FORDING THE MHYE. 



105 



The summits of these steep banks were overgrown with brush- 
wood ; nor could a more favourable place be desired to favour 
the spring of a tyger, or the arrows of an ambushed band of rob- 
bers. Our numbers, our noise, and the torches which some of 
the servants carried during this part of our journey, were enough, 
I should conceive, to keep either description of ferocious animals 
at a distance. Both kinds, however, are very abundant along the 
banks of Mhye and in its neighbourhood ; passengers had been 
very recently stopped and plundered here by Bheels ; and two 
months ago a tyger had carried off a man from a numerous con- 
voy of artillery on its march to Kairah. On the whole, as one 
of the party observed, " on a road like this, and in such a country, 
too many guards were better than too few. After about four 
miles and a half of this kind of road, we arrived on the banks of 
the Mhye, high, precipitous, and woody, with a broad bright 
stream, in spite of all the recent drought, wandering in a still 
wider bed of gravel and sand. Here too I found that the watch- 
ful kindness of Mr. Williams had provided for us, in giving notice 
of my coming to the Collector of the Kairah district, who had 
sent some fishermen acquainted with the ford, and a body of 
Bheels in the pay of the police, to assist us in crossing, and guide 
us to the encampment, which was about three miles further at a 
village named Wasnud. 

Nothing could be more picturesque than this " passage of the 
Granicus." The moon was sufficiently bright to shew the wild 
and woodland character of the landscape, and the brightness and 
ripple of the water, without overpowering the effect of the torches 
as they issued from the wood, and the other torches which our 
guides carried, and which shone on groupes of men, horses, and 
camels, as wild and singular as were ever assembled in the fancy 
of a Salvator Rosa. I thought of Walter Scott's account of the 
salmon fishing ; but this show exceeded that as much as the naked 
limbs, platted elf-locks, and loose mantles of the Bheels, with 
their bows, arrows, and swords, the polished helmets of our re- 
gular troopers, the broad, brocaded, swallow-tailed banner of the 
Guicwar, and the rude but gorgeous chivalry of his cavaliers on 
long-tailed horses and in long cotton caftans, their shields behind 
their backs, their battle-axes pendent from their saddle-bows, and 
long spears or harquebuzes with lighted matches over their shoul- 
ders, surpassed the most picturesque assortment of hodden grey, 
blue bonnets, and fish-spears. The water, though broad, was no 
where deep. It ran, however, with a brisker stream than from 
having seen its exhausted condition nearer to its source I had ex- 
pected. But on this side of Cheeta Talao it receives many other 
mountain-streams ; and some of these, it is reasonable to suppose, 



106 



BHEEL WATCHMAN. 



have escaped better in the general drought, and saved the credit 
of their suzerain before his appearance in the court of Neptune. 

We arrived at Wasnud heartily tired both man and beast ; the 
heat of the day had been intense, and our evening march had led 
us through places where no breeze blew ; my little Arab horse 
Nedjeed, as soon as he saw the comfortable bed of straw provided 
for him, sunk down on it like a dog, and was asleep before the 
saddle was well off his back. The Bheels were to be our watch- 
men as well as guides ; and their shrill calls from one to the other 
were heard all night. We were told not to be surprised at this 
choice, since these poor thieves are, when trusted, the trustiest of 
men, and of all sentries the most wakeful and indefatigable. They 
and the Kholees, a race almost equally wild, are uniformly pre- 
ferred in Guzerat for the service of the police, and as durwans to 
gentlemen's houses and gardens. All such persons are here called 
sepoys, and with more accuracy than the regular troops, inasmuch 
as their weapons are still really the bow and arrow, " sip, 1 ' whence 
the Asiatic soldier derives his appellation. 

March 25. — We resumed our march at the usual hour, and 
went, through a well-cultivated, enclosed, and prettily wooded 
country, eleven miles to Emaad, a small village with a large tank 
not quite dry. In our way we were met by twenty of the Chu- 
prassees, or, to use the language of the country, the sepoys, of the 
collector Mr. Williamson, all of the Kholee caste, rather short but 
broad-set and muscular men, with a harshness, not to say ferocity, 
in the countenances of many of them which remarkably difFered 
from the singularly mild and calm physiognomy usually met with 
in the other side of India. They were well and smartly dressed 
in green and scarlet kirtles, with black turbans, had every man 
his small round buckler and sheaf of arrows at his back, his sword 
and dagger by his side, and long bow in his hand, and excepting 
in their dusky complexions, were no bad representatives of Robin 
Hood and his sturdy yeomen. About half-way we were overtaken 
by Mr. Williamson himself, who rode with us to our camp, as did 
also Captain Ovans, who was encamped near and employed in 
taking a survey of the country. This gentleman brought with him 
some specimens of his maps, which are extremely minute, extend- 
ing to the smallest details usually expressed in the survey of a 
gentleman's property in England, with a copious field book, and 
a particular statement of the average number of farms, tanks, hills, 
orchards, &c. in each townland. The execution of the maps is 
very neat, and their drawing said to be wonderfully accurate, 
though the mapping, measurement, and angles are, as well as the 
drawing, by native assistants. All which Captain Ovans seems to 
do is generally to superintend their operations, to give them in- 
structions in cases of difficulty, to notice any error which he may 



INHABITANTS OF GUZERAT. 107 

discover in their calculations, and to cover with ink and finish for 
the inspection of government the maps which they delineate in 
pencil. Their neatness, delicacy, and patience in the use of the 
different instruments and the pencil, he spoke of as really extra- 
ordinary ; and he was no less satisfied with their intelligence, 
acuteness, and readiness in the acquisition of the necessary degree 
of mathematical science. From these. gentlemen I gleaned several 
interesting facts about the inhabitants of this country. 

Its wilder parts are pretty generally occupied by the Bheels, 
concerning whom I am able to add little to what I said before. 
The other and more settled inhabitants are either Mussulmans, of 
whom the number is but small ; Hindoo bunyans ; Rajpoots of a 
degenerate description, and chiefly occupied in cultivating the soil ; 
Maharattas, who are not by any means numerous except in and 
about the Guicwar's court; and Kholees, or, as they are pretty 
generally called, Coolies. These last form perhaps two-thirds of 
the population, and, are considered by public men in Guzerat as 
the original inhabitants of the country, a character which, I know 
not why, they refuse to the Bheels, who here, as in Malwah, seem 
to have the best title to it. I suspect, indeed, myself, that the 
Coolies are only civilized Bheels, who have laid aside some of the 
wild habits of their ancestors, and who have learned, more parti- 
cularly, to conform in certain respects, such as abstinence from 
beef, &c. to their Hindoo neighbours. They themselves pretend 
to be descended from the Rajpoots, but this is a claim continually 
made by wild and warlike tribes all over India, and it is made, 
more particularly, by the Puharree villagers at the foot of Rajma- 
hal who have embraced the Hindoo religion ; and that the Coolies 
themselves do not believe their claim, is apparent from the fact 
that they neither wear the silver badge, nor the red turban. Be 
this as it may, they are acknowledged by the Hindoos as their 
kindred, which the Bheels never are ; and though their claim of 
being children of the sun is not allowed by the Rajpoots who live 
among them, there have been instances in which intermarriages 
have taken place between Maharattas of high rank and the fami- 
lies of some of their most powerful chieftains. 

Their ostensible and, indeed, their chief employment, is agri- 
culture, and they are said to be often industrious farmers and la- 
bourers, and, while kindly treated, to pay their rent to govern- 
ment as well, at least, as their Rajpoot neighbours. They live, 
however, under their own Thakoors, whose authority alone they 
willingly acknowledge, and pay little respect to the laws, unless 
when it suits their interest, or they are constrained by the pre- 
sence of an armed force. In other respects they are one of the 
most turbulent and predatory tribes in India, and with the Bheels, 
make our tenure of Guzerat more disturbed, and the maintenance 

Vol. II.— 14 



108 CHARACTER AND DRESS OF THE COOLIES. 



of our authority more expensive there, than in any other district 
of the Eastern empire. The cutcherries, and even the dwelling- 
houses of the civil servants of the company, are uniformly placed 
within, instead of without, the cities and towns, a custom ruinous 
to health and comfort, but accounted a necessary precaution 
against the desperate attacks to which they might otherwise be 
liable. The magistrates and.collectors have a larger force of arm- 
ed men in their employ than any others of the same rank whom 
I have met with ; and the regular troops, *and even the European 
cavalry are continually called ^ut against them. Yet in no country 
are the roads so insecure, — in none are forays and plundering ex- 
cursions of every kind more frequent ; or a greater proportion of, 
what would be called in Europe, the gentry and landed proprie- 
tors addicted to acts of violence and bloodshed. In these plunder- 
ing parties they often display a very desperate courage ; and it is 
to their honour, that, rude and lawless as they are, they do not 
apparently delight in blood for its own sake, and neither mutilate, 
torture, nor burn the subjects of their cupidity or revenge, like 
the far worse " decoits" of Bengal and Ireland. 

They are hardy, stout men, particularly those of the Catteywar 
and Cutch districts. Their usual dress is a petticoat round the 
waist, like that of the Bheels, and a cotton cloth wrapped round 
their heads and shoulders, which, when they wish to be smart, 
they gather up into a very large white turban. In cold weather, 
or when drest, they add a quilted cotton kirtle, or 44 lebada," over 
which they wear a shirt of mail, with vaunt-braces and gauntlets, 
and never consider themselves as fit to go abroad without a sword, 
buckler, bow and arrows, to which their horsemen add a long 
spear and battle-axe. The cotton lebada is generally stained and 
iron-moulded by the mail shirt, and, as might be expected, these 
marks, being tokens of their martial occupation, are reckoned ho- 
nourable, insomuch that their young warriors often counterfeit 
them with oil or soot, and do their best to get rid as soon as pos- 
sible of the burgher-like whiteness of a new dress. This is said 
to be the real origin of the story told by Hamilton, that the Coo- 
lies despise and revile all cleanly and decent clothing as base and 
effeminate. In other respects they are fond of finery ; their shields 
are often very handsome, with silver bosses, and composed of 
rhinoceros hide ; their battle-axes richly inlaid, and their spears 
surrounded with many successive rings of silver. Their bows are 
like those of the Bheels, but stronger, and in better order ; and 
their arrows are carried in a quiver of red and embroidered lea- 
ther. In their marauding expeditions they often use great secrecy, 
collecting in the night at the will of some popular chieftain, com- 
municated generally by the circulation of a certain token, known 
only to those concerned, like the fiery cross of the Scottish high- 



SWAAMEE NARAIN. 



109 



landers. They frequently leave their families in complete igno- 
rance as to where or why they are going ; and the only way in 
which, should one of their number fall in battle, the survivors 
communicate his loss to his widow or parents, is by throwing be- 
fore his door some sprigs of the peepul, plucked and disposed in 
a particular form. 

On other occasions, however, their opposition to law has been 
sufficiently open and daring. The districts of Cutch and Cattey- 
war have ever been, more or less in a state of rebellion ; and 
neither the regency of the former state, nor the Guicwar, as feudal 
sovereign of the latter, nor the English government in the dis- 
tricts adjoining to both, which are under their controul, have ever 
got through a year without one or more sieges of different forts 
or fastnesses. 

Some good had been done, Mr. Williamson said, among many 
of these wild people, by the preaching and popularity of the Hin- 
doo reformer, Swaamee Narain, who had been mentioned to me 
at Baroda. His morality was said to be far better than any which 
could be learned from the Shaster. He preached a great degree 
of purity, forbidding his disciples so much as to look on any woman 
whom they passed. He condemned theft and bloodshed ; and 
those villages and districts which had received him, from being 
among the worst, were now among the best and most orderly in 
the provinces. Nor was this all, insomuch as he was said to have 
destroyed the yoke of caste, — to have preached one God, and, in 
short, to have made so considerable approaches to the truth, that 
I could not but hope he might be an appointed instrument to pre- 
pare the way for the gospel. 

While I was listening with much interest to Mr. Williamson's 
account of this man, six persons came to the tent, four in the dress 
of peasants or bunyans ; one, a young man, with a large white 
turban, and the quilted lebada, of a Coolie, but clean and decent, 
with a handsome sword ana 1 shield, and other marks of rustic 
wealth ; and the sixth, an old Mussulman, with a white beard, and 
pretty much the appearance, dress, and manner of an ancient 
serving-man. After offering some sugar and sweetmeats, as their 
nuzzur, and, as usual, sitting down on the ground, one of the 
peasants began, to my exceeding surprise and delight, " Pundit 
Swaamee Narain, sends his salaam," and proceeded to say that the 
person whom I so much desired to see was in the neighbourhood, 
and asked permission to call on me next day. I, of course, re- 
turned a favourable answer, and stated with truth, that I greatly 
desired his acquaintance, and had heard much good of him. I 
asked if they were his disciples, and was answered in the affirma- 
tive. The first spokesman told me, that the young man now 'in 
company, was the eldest son of a Coolie Thakoor, whose father 



110 



ADAWLUT COURTS. 



was one of the Pundit's great friends, that he was himself a Raj- 
poot and Ryut, that the old man in green was a Mussulman sepoy 
in the Thakoor's service, and sent to attend on his young master. 
He added, that though of different castes, they were all disciples 
of Swaamee Narain, and taught to regard each other as brethren. 
They concluded by asking me when I was to go next day, and 
appointed in their teacher's name, that he would visit me at 
Nerriad in the forenoon : they then took their leave, I having first 
embraced the Thakoor, and sent my salaam both to his father 
and his Gooroo. 

On asking Mr. Williamson about the state of knowledge in this 
province, and the facility which it afforded for establishing schools, 
he said, that their were large schools in most of the principal 
towns, where the children of the bunyans learnt writing, reading, 
accounts, and such portions of the national religion as their caste 
is allowed to receive. But there was no gratuitous instruction ; 
and the Ryuts from poverty, and the Coolie Thakoors from indif- 
ference, very seldom, if ever, sent their children. They had no 
objection, however, except that of expence ; and he did not doubt 
that if government, or any religious society, would institute schools, 
they would be attended with thankfulness and punctuality. 

I asked him if the government were popular ; he did not think 
that it was particularly otherwise, and ascribed the various tu- 
mults and rising of the Guzerattees to their famines, which fre- 
quently reduced whole families and villages to the state of "bro- 
ken men," and to their long previous habits of misrule and an- 
archy, rather than to any political grievances. The valuation of 
their lands, he said, was moderate ; it was only from year to year, 
but in a country where the crops were so precarious, a longer 
settlement was not desired by the people themselves. Even ac- 
cording to the present system, government were often compelled 
to make great abatements, and, on most occasions, had shewn 
themselves indulgent masters. 

The greatest evil of the land here, as elsewhere in India, is 
the system of the Adawlut Courts, their elaborate and intricate 
machinery, their intolerable and expensive delays, and the seve- 
rity of their debtor and creditor laws. Even in the Adawlut, 
however, a very essential improvement had been introduced by 
Mr. Elphinstone in discarding the Persian language, and appoint- 
ing all proceedings to be in that of Guzerat. Still there remain- 
ed many evils, and in a land so eaten up by poverty on the one 
hand, and usury on the other, the most calamitous results con- 
tinually followed, and the most bitter indignation was often ex- 
cited by the judgments, ejectments, and other acts of the court, 
which though intended only to do justice between man and man, 
yet frequently depopulated villages, undid ancient families, pulled 



ADAWLUT COURTS — NERRIAD. 



Ill 



down men's hereditary and long-possessed houses over their 
heads, and made the judges hated and feared by the great body 
of the people as practising severities in the recovery of private 
debts, which none of the native governors, however otherwise 
oppressive, either ventured to do, or thought of doing. One 
good effect has, indeed, followed, that by making a debt more 
easy to recover, the rate of interest has been lessened. But this 
is a poor compensation for the evils of a system which, to pay a 
debt, no matter how contracted, strips the weaver of his loom, 
the husbandman of his plough, and pulls the roof from the castle 
of the feudal chieftain, and which, when a village is once aban- 
doned by its inhabitants in a time of famine, makes it next to im- 
possible for those inhabitants, who are all more or less in debt, 
to return, in better times, to their houses and lands again. 

The hot wind blew fiercely all the day, and, though it ceased 
at night, was followed by a calm more close and oppressive still. 
I had certainly no conception that any where in India the month 
of March could offer such a furnace-like climate. The servants 
all complained of it, and hoped that I should not stay long in this 
province ; if I did they were sure that we should all die : and in 
truth their apprehensions seemed not altogether unreasonable. 
Here, indeed, I was far, very far from regretting that my wife 
and children were not with me ; and I rejoiced, on the other 
hand, that as Guzerat was some time or other to be visited, I was 
now getting over the most remote, most expensive, and certainly 
not the most interesting or most healthy part of my Diocese, in 
the only visitation journey (I hope) during which I am likely to, 
be separated from them. 

The fertility of Guzerat, in favourable years, is great, particu- 
larly in sugar and tobacco ; and the revenue of the Collectorate 
at Kairah is said to exceed, at such times, 37 lacs, an enormous 
sum for so small a district, but from which many deductions must 
be made on account of the strangely frequent droughts to which 
all this part of India is liable, and the very large police and mili- 
tary establishments which its disordered state, and the martial 
habits of the people, require. 

March 26. — We marched to Nerriad, a large and well-built 
town, containing, as its Cutwal told me, about 15,000 people. 
The neighbourhood is very highly cultivated, and full of groves 
of fruit-trees, and large tanks. Of the latter, the greater number 
are, unhappily, now dry. We were lodged, by Mr. Williamson's 
order, in his cutcherry, a part of which is used for the occasional 
reception of himself and his friends. It consists of an enclosure 
surrounded by a high wall and buildings of various descriptions 
in the heart of the town, and calculated to hold and shelter, con- 
veniently, a considerable number of horses and people. The 



VISIT FROM SWAAMEE NARAIN. 



bungalow itself, as it is called, is a tall, long, shallow building, 
containing on the ground-floor two dark and close apartments, 
with a staircase berween them, and above, two more, full of win- 
dows, without verandahs or any other means of shutting out the 
sun or hot wind, and so near the tiled roof that nothing could 
well be hotter in weather like the present, and we much regret- 
ed that we had not adhered to our old system of pitching the 
tents, with tatties, outside the town. The heat was great all day, 
and even before the sun was up. 

About eleven o'clock I had the expected visit from Swaamee 
Narain, to my interview with whom I had looked forward with an 
anxiety and eagerness which, if he had known it, would, perhaps, 
have flattered him. He came in a somewhat different style from 
all which I expected, having with him near 200 horsemen, mostly 
well-armed with matchlocks and swords, and several of them with 
coats of mail and spears. Besides them he had a large rabble on 
foot, with bows and arrows, and when I considered that I had 
myself an escort of more than fifty horse, and fifty musquets and 
bayonets, 1 could not help smiling, though my sensations were in 
some degree painful and humiliating, at the idea of two religious 
teachers meeting at the head of little armies, and filling the city, 
which was the scene of their interview, with the rattling of qui- 
vers, the clash of shields, and the tramp of the war-horse. Had 
our troops been opposed to each other, mine, though less numer- 
ous, would have been, doubtless, far more effective from the su- 
periority of arms and discipline. But, in moral grandeur, what a 
difference was there between his troop and mine. Mine neither 
knew me, nor cared for me ; they escorted me faithfully, and 
would have defended me bravely, because they were ordered by 
their superiors to do so, and as they would have done for any 
other stranger of sufficient worldly rank to make such an attend- 
ance usual. The guards of Swaamee Narain were his own dis- 
ciples and enthusiastic admirers, men who had voluntarily repaired 
to hear his lessons, who now took a pride in doing him honour, 
and who would cheerfully fight to the last drop of blood rather 
than suffer a fringe of his garment to be handled roughly. In the 
parish of Hodnet there were once, perhaps, a few honest coun- 
trymen who felt something like this for me ; but how long a time 
must elapse before any Christian Teacher in India can hope to 
be thus loved and honoured ! Yet surely there is some encourage- 
ment to patient labour which a Christian Minister may derive 
from the success of such men as these in India, — inasmuch as 
where others can succeed in obtaining a favourable hearing for 
doctrines, in many respects, at variance with the general and re- 
ceived system of Hindooism,- — the time may surely be expected, 
through God's blessing, when our endeavours also, may receive 



YISIT FROM SWAAMEE NARAIN. 



113 



their fruit, and our hitherto almost barren Church may " keep 
house and be a joyful mother of children.'" 

The armed men who attended Swaamee Narain were under 
the authority, as it appeared, of a venerable old man, of large 
stature, with a long grey beard and most voluminous turban, the 
father of the young Thakoor who had called on me the day before. 
He came into the room first, and, after the usual embrace, intro- 
duced the holy man himself, who was a middle-sized, thin, and 
plain-looking person, about my own age, with a mild and diffident 
expression of countenance, but nothing about him indicative of any 
extraordinary talent. I seated him on a chair at my right hand, 
and offered two more to the Thakoor and his son, of which, how- 
ever, they did not avail themselves without first placing their 
hands under the feet of their spiritual guide, and then pressing 
them reverently to their foreheads. Others of the principal dis- 
ciples, to the number of twenty or thirty, seated themselves on 
the ground, and several of my own Mussulman servants, who 
seemed much interested in what was going on, thrust in their 
faces at the door, or ranged themselves behind me. After the 
usual mutual compliments, I said that I had heard much good of 
him, and the good doctrine which he preached among the poor 
people of Guzerat, and that I greatly desired his acquaintance ; 
that I regretted that I knew Hindoostanee so imperfectly, but 
that I should be very glad, so far as my knowledge of the language 
allowed, and by the interpretation of friends, to learn what he be- 
lieved on religious matters, and to tell him what I myself believ- 
ed, and that if he would come and see me at Kairah, where we 
should have more leisure, I would have a tent pitched for him 
and treat him like a brother. I said this because I was very ear- 
nestly desirous of getting him a copy of the Scriptures, of which 
I had none with me, in the Nagree character, and persuading him 
to read them ; and because I had some further hopes of inducing 
him to go with me to Bombay, where I hoped that by concilia- 
tory treatment, and the conversations to which I might introduce 
him with the Church Missionary Society established in that neigh- 
bourhood, I might do him more good than I could otherwise hope 
to do. 

I saw that both he and, still more, his disciples, were highly 
pleased by the invitation which I gave him, but he said, in reply, 
that his life was one of very little leisure, that he had 5000 disci- 
ples now attending on his preaching in the neighbouring villages, 
and nearly 50,000 in different parts of Guzerat, that a great num- 
ber of these were to assemble together in the course of next week, 
on occasion of his brother's son coming of age to receive the bi ah- 
minical string, but that if I staid long enough in the neighbourhood 
to allow him to get this engagement over, he would gladly come 



114 



DOCTRINE OF SWAAMEE NARAIN. 



again to see me. " In the mean time," I said, " have you any ob- 
jection to communicate some part of your doctrine now ?" It 
was evidently what he came to do, and his disciples very visibly 
exulted in the opportunity of his, perhaps, converting me. He 
began, indeed, well, professing to believe in one only God, the 
Maker of all things in Heaven and earth, who filled all space, 
upheld and governed all things, and more particularly dwelt in 
the hearts of those who diligently sought him; but he alarmed me by 
calling the God whom he worshipped Krishna, and by saying that 
he had come down to earth in ancient times, had been put to death 
by wicked men through magic, and that since his time many false 
revelations had been pretended, and many false divinities set up. 
This declaration, I say, alarmed me, because notwithstanding the 
traits of resemblance which it bore to the history of our Lord ; 
traits, which are in fact to be found in the midst of all the unclean- 
ness and folly in the popular legends respecting Krishna, I did not 
like the introduction of a name so connected with many obscene 
and monstrous follies. I observed, therefore, that I always had 
supposed, that Hindoos called the God and Father of all, not 
Krishna, but Brihm, and I wished, therefore, to know whether his 
God was Brihm, or somebody distinct from him ? The name of 
Brihm appeared to cause great sensation among his disciples, of 
whom some whispered with each other, and one or two nodded 
and smiled, as if to say, " that is the very name.' 1 The pundit also 
smiled and bowed, and with the air of a man who is giving instruc- 
tion to a willing and promising pupil, said, " a true word it is that 
there is only one God, who is above all and in all things, and by 
whom all things are. Many names there may be, and have been 
given to him who is and is the same, but whom we also as well as 
the other Hindoos call Brihm. But there is a spirit in whom God 
is more especially, and who cometh from God, and is with God, 
and is likewise God, who hath made known to men the will of 
the God and Father of all, whom we call Krishna and worship as 
God's image, and believe to be the same as the sun * Surya.' " 

I now thought a fair opportunity was given me, and said, with 
rather more fluency than I had hoped to do, " O pundit, it is a 
true saying and to be received of all men, that God is every where, 
that there is no other besides him, that he dwells in the heart and 
prompts every good thought and word." " Ullah Acbar," said 
one of the Mussulmans. " It is also true, as you have well said, 
that it is by his Word, whom we call his Son, who is with the 
father, and in whom the Father dwells, that the invisible God 
has made himself and his will known to mankind." Here one of 
the Mussulmans left the room ; perceiving which, and being anx- 
ious to Keep the remainder a little longer, I said, addressing the old 
Mussulman sepoy who came with the Thakoor, " you, Sir, know 



DOCTRINE OF SWAAMEE NARAIN. H5 

what I mean, for you know what Mohammed has written of Jesus 
the Son of Mary, that he was the breath of God and born of a 
virgin. But is not the breath of a man, the son of his mouth ? Is 
not the word of a man his breath, reduced to form and produced 
by him ? When, therefore, we say that Jesus, son of Mary, is the 
Son of God, we mean that he is his word, his breath, proceeding 
from him and one with him from all eternity. But w r e cannot be- 
lieve I returned to the pundit, " that the sun which we see in 
the sky, can be either God, or that Word who is one with him, 
since the sun rises and sets, is sometimes on this side of the world, 
and sometimes on that. But God is every where at once, and fills 
all things. ,, The Pundit replied, if I understood him right, that the 
sun is not God, but even as God for brightness and glory. But 
he said that their belief was, that there had been many avatars of 
God in different lands, one to the Christians, another to the Mus- 
sulmans, another to the Hindoos in time past, adding something 
like a hint, that another avatar of Krishna, or the Sun, had taken 
place in himself. I answered, " O Pundit-jee ! God has spoken in 
many ways and at many times by Prophets ; but it is hard to believe 
that a single avatar might not be sufficient for the whole world. 
But on this and many other points, we may, if it please God, talk 
hereafter.'" T then asked if he could read the Persian character, 
and on his answering in the negative, I expressed my concern that 
I had no copies of our sacred books with me in the Nagree, but 
said that if he would accept a volume or two, by way of keeping 
me in his remembrance, I would send them to him either from 
Kairah or Bombay. I then asked in what way he and his followers 
worshipped God, and finding that the question seemed to perplex 
him, I made Abdullah read the Lord's Praver in Hindoostanee 
to shew what I meant, and as a specimen of what we repeated 
daily. I found, however, that he supposed me to ask in what 
form they worshipped God, and he therefore unrolled a large 
picture in glaring colours, of a naked man with rays proceeding 
from his face like the sun, and two women fanning him ; the man 
white, the women black. I asked him how that could be the 
God who filled every thing and was every where ? He answered 
that it was not God himself, but the picture or form in which God 
dwelt in his heart : I told him as well as I could, (for to say the 
truth, my fluency had begun to fail,) what Christians and Mussul- 
mans thought as to the worship of images ; but did not decline 
receiving some paltry little prints of his divinity in various atti- 
tudes, which I said I should value as keepsakes. I asked about 
castes, to which he answered, that he did not regard the subject as 
of much importance, but that he wished not to give offence ; that 
people might eat separately or together in this world,but that above 
" oopur," pointing to heaven, those distinctions would cease, where 
Vol. 11—15 



116 



DEPARTURE OF SWAMEE NARAIN. 



we should be all " ek ekhee jat," (one like another.) A little further 
conversation of no great consequence followed, which was ended 
by my giving attar and pawn to the pundit, the two Thakoors, and 
some of the other more distinguished disciples whom he pointed 
out to me. We mutually took down each other's names in writing. 
I again pressed him to let me see him once more before I left the 
country, which he promised if possible ; and we bad adieu with 
much mutual good- will, and a promise of praying for each other, 
which by God's help I mean to keep. On the whole it was plain 
that his advances towards truth had not yet been so great as I 
had been told, but it was also apparent that he had obtained a 
great power over a wild people, which he used at present to a 
good purpose ; and though I feared to alarm him by beginning 
too rashly, I could not but earnestly desire further means and 
opportunity of putting him in a yet better way than he was now 
pursuing ; but I thought from all which I saw that it would be to 
no advantage to ask him to accompany me to Bombay. 

In the evening Dr. Barnes and I proceeded eleven miles more 
in our palanqueens to Kairah, bearers having been sent from that 
place to meet us. There is no regular system of dak here, nor 
(that I can learn) in any part of this Presidency. Bearers, or 
"hamauls," as they call them by an Arabic word, are hired at 
the different large towns either by the trip or by the day ; and if 
relays are required, they must be sent out from some of these 
towns on purpose. The expence is very great in comparison 
with the rate of travelling in other parts of India. My journey 
of eleven miles cost me fifteen Baroda rupees or twenty-five 
shillings, and that without carrying a single article of clothes, or 
any thing save my writing-desk and pistols. The night was but 
little cooler than the day had been, and the road very dusty. It 
was moon-light, however, and I could therefore observe that the 
country was of the same highly cultivated, strongly enclosed, 
woody, and English character which we had seen the whole way 
on this side of the Mhye. 

About ten o'clock we reached Kairah, and were conducted to 
the bungalow of Mr. Goode the Clergyman, who received us 
very hospitably, and had prepared a bed for me in an empty 
bungalow separated from his only by a small field. Both these 
were very neat and even pretty dwellings, but constructed with 
much less regard to the climate than is usual on the other side of 
India. Here the windows are generally small and without glass, 
so as neither to admit any great body of air when it is cool, nor 
to exclude the hot wind; they have low ceilings too, and are 
roofed with tiles, on which the sun beats with great power. Nor 
are the verandahs so well constructed, in my opinion, as those of 
Hindostan. The servants are either Parsees or Portugueze, and 



KAIRAH. 



117 



the English language is much more generally understood and 
spoken among them than in the northern and eastern provinces,. 
From Saturday the 26th of March to Monday the 4th of April I 
remained at Kairah, during which time I received great civility 
and kindness from Mr. Goode the Chaplain, Major Sale of the 
4th light dragoons, at this time commanding officer, and the other 
gentlemen of the station. On Sunday I consecrated the Church, 
which is a large and solid but clumsy building, lately finished. 
On Wednesday I confirmed about 70 persons, and on Friday and 
Sunday (Good Friday and Easter day) I preached. On Satur- 
day, before evening service, I consecrated the burial-ground, and 
in the course of that day visited the regimental school, the station 
library, and hospital. 

The cantonment of Kairah stands about a mile and a half from 
a small city of the same name, with a river between them, cross- 
ed by a considerable wooden bridge, but now in most places 
fordable. It is extensive and, I think, well laid out, with good 
barracks and an excellent hospital, which has only the defect of 
being built round a square, — apian which robs one-half the range 
of all benefit from the breeze. By this form, however, it is more 
conveniently and easily guarded; and the patients are secluded 
from any injurious intercourse with their comrades, as well as 
from access to spiritual liquors. To the prevention of this latter 
danger even while the men are in health, a greater, or at least, a 
more successful attention seems to be paid in this cantonment 
than in any other which I have visited. No dram-shop is allow- 
ed within its bounds, and the only one which is tolerated, even 
in the neighbourhood, is under so good controul, that no great de- 
gree of drunkenness appeared to exist among the European sol- 
diers, who are, indeed, some of the most respectable looking and 
orderly men I have seen in India, and of whom, on the whole, 
Mr. Goode has, according to his own statement, a very interest- 
ing and attentive congregation. 

The regimental school is in very good order. There are, in- 
deed, few children, the greater number having been carried off 
by a grievous sickness which prevailed amongst them last year. 
But there are about forty adult soldiers, who either having never 
learned, or forgotten their reading and writing, are here instruct- 
ed both in these and in arithmetic. I examined these men, and 
was much pleased with the progress which they had made, and 
with the account which I received of their diligence. 

The station library is a very good room, with a small apart- 
ment adjoining for a non-commissioned officer, who has the care 
of the books which are made up from two different sources, the 
one being a lending library containing the works usually furnish- 
ed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ; the other 



118 



KAIRAH. 



a larger, more miscellaneous, and far more expensive collection, 
furnished by the East India Company, and containing, among 
others, Paley's Natural Theology, Goldsmiths Animated Nature, 
Pinkerton's Geography, a good Atlas, the Indian histories of Orme 
and Wilks, and the novels of the author of Waverlev. The books 
published by the Christian Knowledge Society are circulated in 
the manner usually practised in the lending libraries of that insti- 
tution, and bear marks, not of ill usage, but of being well read, 
and perhaps by no very delicate hands. The Company's books 
are not to be taken away from the room in which they are depo- 
sited, a late regulation to that effect having been passed by the 
commander-in-chief, Sir Charles Colville. I regret this restriction, 
because I am convinced that, in this climate, the utility of the 
library will be much impaired by it, since men will not read w r hen 
they can amuse themselves in the open air, nor when the sun is 
high will they, nor ought they, to walk some distance to a library. 
I can, indeed, easily believe that while books were taken by the 
the men to their quarters, some would be occasionally damaged, 
but it is surely better that this should happen occasionally, rather 
than that the reasonable and decent use of the books should be 
impeded, and the munificence of government, in a great degree, 
rendered vain. 

But even an occasional and restricted access to works such as 
I have described, is doubtless a very valuable privilege ; and, al- 
together, I have seen no Indian station, (Meerut excepted,) from 
which I have derived so much comfort and pleasure as from Kai- 
rah. The worst is its extreme unhealthiness ; besides the burning 
heat, under which all Guzerat suffers, and in which it is more 
unfavourably circumstanced than any other province in India, 
there is something in the nature of the soil, which, like the Ter- 
rai, though not in so fatal a degree, affects mankind, particularly 
Europeans, with fever, ague, and the other complaints of tropical 
climates. The havoc among the European troops during the hot 
months, and, still more, during the rains, is dreadful ; and even 
my Hmdoostanees and Bengalees were many of them affected in 
a way which reminded me much of " the Belt of Death one was 
taken ill after another, and, though all recovered, all were so tho- 
roughly alarmed, that I never witnessed more alacrity displayed 
by them than when I gave orders to prepare for marching. Arch- 
deacon Barnes and I felt nothing like indisposition. Here, as in 
the Terrai, the servants ascribed their illness to the badness of the 
water. The majority of the wells are certainly brackish, but 
there is one very fine one of excellent quality at the Military hos- 
pital, to which I apprehend thev would, by using my name, have 
had fi ee access. I am myself inclined to impute the unhealthiness 
of the station to the quantity of saltpetre in the soil, a circumstance 



KAIRAH. 119 

in which this district appears to resemble lower Bengal. At the 
same time, it should seem that the spot on which the cantonment 
stands is peculiarly unfortunate, since the neighbouring city, and 
even the artillery lines, though only separated from the rest by a 
river, are reckoned much more healthy. 

The city of Kairah is a large and tolerably neat town, surround- 
ed by a lofty stone wall, with semi-circular bastions, in good re- 
pair, and sufficient to keep off either nightly robbers, or parties 
of irregular cavalry. To sudden attacks of both kinds, notwith- 
standing the vicinity of the cantonments, it would otherwise still 
be, (as it has been in times past,) exposed. The streets within, 
though narrow, are clean, and the houses solid and lofty, with 
sloping tiled roofs, and a good deal of carving exhibited on the 
wood-work of their gable-ends and verandahs. Near the centre 
of the town are a large Jain temple and school ; the former con- 
sisting of many small apartments up and down stairs, and even 
under ground, with a good deal of gaudy ornament, and some 
very beautiful carving in a dark wood like oak. In one of the 
upper rooms is a piece of mechanism something like those mov- 
ing clock-work groupes of kings, armies, gods, and goddesses 
which are occasionally carried about our own country by Italians 
and Frenchmen, in which sundry divinities dance and salam, 
with a sort of musical accompaniment. These figures are made 
chiefly of the same black wood which I have described. What 
they last shewed us was a cellar below ground, approached by 
a very narrow passage, and containing, on an altar of the usual 
construction, the four statues of sitting men, which are the most 
frequent and peculiar objects of Jain idolatry. They are of 
white marble, but had, (as seems to have been the case with 
many of the images of ancient Greece,) their eyes of silver, 
which gleamed in a very dismal and ghostly manner in the light 
of a solitary lamp which was burning before them, aided by a 
yet dimmer ray which penetrated from above through two nar- 
row apertures, like flues, in the vaulting. We were very civilly 
conducted over the whole building by one of the junior priests, 
the senior pundit of the place remaining as if absorbed in hea- 
venly things, immovable and silent during the whole of our stay. 
While I was in the temple a good many worshippers entered, 
chiefly women, each of whom, first touching one of the bells 
which hung from the roof, bent to the ground before one or other 
of the idols, depositing, in some instances, flowers, or sugar-candy 
before it. There seemed no reluctance to admit me and Mr. 
Williams, the judge and magistrate, who accompanied me, to any 
part of the building; but the priests drove back, without any 
ceremony, such of our attendants as wished to follow us. 

Near this temple is the Ada whit, a handsome building, with 



120 



KAIRAH. 



pillars in the Grecian style, having its attic stor) r raised high above 
the town, and containing very convenient apartments for the 
Judge and his family. Separated by a narrow street is the pri- 
son, a large and strong building, which was, nevertheless, nearly 
forced eight or ten years ago, by a mob of Coolies who had de- 
termined to release one of their associates, who was in confine- 
ment. Mr. Ironside, the senior Judge, nearly lost his life on that 
occasion. 

During the Saturday before we left Kairah, one of my servants 
was severely stung by a scorpion. He caught and killed the ani- 
mal, and brought it to Dr. Smith, who, however, did not apply 
it to the wound, regarding it as a superstitious remedy which he 
has never known do any good. Nothing, indeed, according to 
his experience, is really serviceable except patience, and a lotion 
of vinegar and water; and the last rather as occup}'ing the pa- 
tient's attention, than from any direct efficacy to to relieve the 
pain. This is very severe, and continues six or eight hours ; after 
which it generally goes away by degrees. It very seldom, if 
ever, happens that the injury is of more lasting consequences; 
but, during this time, Dr. Smith has seen strong and courageous 
men crying like children, from the extremity of their anguish. 
The bite of the centipede he considers as worse than that of the 
scorpion, and a very large insect of that kind was killed during 
Divine Service on Saturday, creeping up the shoe of one of the 
soldiers. The beginning of the hot weather, and the first ten days 
of the rainy season, are the times at which venomous animals are 
most active and troublesome all over India ; nor, in spite of these 
two cases, have I any reason to suppose that they are more nu- 
merous in Guzerat than elsewhere. 

In different parts of this province, particularly near the town 
of Kuppurgunge, are found numbers of cornelians and other peb- 
bles, particularly of the kind called in England "mocha stones," 
which the shopkeepers of Cambay cut, polish, and set very neatly. 
The cornelians are always roasted in a strong fire before any 
thing is done to them; nor is it known, till this has taken place, 
whether they are worth any thing or no. The silversmiths of 
Cutch and Cattyroar emboss very neatly, by filling the cup, 
watch-case, box, or other vessel with gum-lack, and punching it 
in, to the figure required, with a small chisel. Major Sale shew- 
ed me a watch-case and small tankard, very prettily ornamented 
in this manner, with flowers, elephants, and different birds and 
animals. 

On April the 4th, Easter Monday, we left Kairah for Dehwan, 
a village seven coss distant. Our road was through a well-culti- 
vated country, with strong and high green hedges, a fine show of 
hedge-row timber, and sandy lanes, so narrow, that on meeting a 



♦ 



PETITION OF SWAAMEE NARAIN. 121 

string of hackeries we were obliged to break a gap into a field, 
in order to let them pass us. We met on the way about fifteen 
or sixteen miserable, half-naked, and half-starved emigrants, from 
Cattywyar, who said they had lingered there till most of their 
cattle were dead, and they themselves and their children nearly 
so ; nor did they now know where to go to find a happier 
country. 

At Dehwan we found a handsome pagoda, with a convent 
attached to it, embosomed in tall trees ; and were met by the 
Maharatta manager of Pitland, a man of some consequence, who 
had the title of " Baee." 

I forgot to mention in its proper place, that during my con- 
tinuance in Kairah, I received a petition from Swaamee Narain, 
which, unfortunately, marked but too clearly the smallness of his 
advances beyond the usual limits of Hindooism. It was written in 
very good English, but signed by him in Nagree, and was brought 
to me by two of the persons whom I had seen among his disciples. 
Its purport was to request my influence with government to obtain 
an endowment for a temple which he was building to Luckshmee 
Narain, the goddess of plenty, and also for a hospital and place of 
reception, which he wished to institute in the same neighbourhood, 
for pilgrims and poor travellers. I was at some pains to explain 
to these people that I was only a traveller, and with no authority 
in the government, and that, as being a Christian, I could not 
attempt any thing which was to encourage the worship of images. 
I told them, however, that I would convey their petition to Mr. 
Elphinstone, so far as regarded the alms-house and relief of poor 
travellers, and that I would report, as I was bound to do, the good 
account which I heard from all quarters of the system of morals 
preached by Swaamee Narain, and acted on by his disciples. 
From Mr. Ironside, who knows him well, and who speaks very 
favourably of him, I found that when expostulated with on the 
worship of images, the pundit often expressed his conviction of 
their vanity, but pleaded that he feared to offend the prejudices of 
the people too suddenly, and that, for ignorant and carnal minds, 
such outward aids to devotion were necessary. These opinions 
are, indeed, no more than some Christians of the Romish Church 
express ; but since I have heard them, I confess I have thought 
less favourably of his simplicity and honesty of character, and 
have entertained fewer hopes of being able to render him any 
spiritual service. Still, as loosening prejudices, his ministry may, 
by God's mercy, be useful to his countrymen. 

The day was intensely hot, and notwithstanding the abundance 
of trees in Guzerat, they are never disposed in groves so as to 
furnish a convenient shelter for a camp. Ours was in the middle 
of a ploughed field ; and though, during a part of the day, the 



■ 



122 PITLAND. 

breeze was strong enough to admit of tatties, the burden of the 
sun in the afternoon was more than the awnings of our canvas 
habitations could resist, and fell heavy on us. We had reason to 
be thankful that there were only ten days more before we should 
arrive in Surat. Had we taken the longer round by Mhow, we 
must have expected to feel the climate severely. 

I have had several occasions within the few last days to 
observe that the English on this side of India call the Hindoos 
" Gentoos," a name which, though commonly used for them in 
Europe, I never heard in Bengal or Hindostan. I cannot learn 
that it is taken from any Indian dialect; and the Guzerattee pro- 
fessors of the religion of Brahma call themselves, here as else- 
where, " Hindooee." I suspect it is only a corruption of the 
Portuguese jargon " Gentao,"" a Gentile, and may rank with the 
compound " Campao" of Bengal. 

April 5. — This morning we proceeded, eight coss, to Pitland, 
where we found Archdeacon Barnes just arrived, he having come 
by dak during the night from Kairah. Pitland is a large town, 
with a good stone rampart, and, with t^e district round it, belongs 
to the Guicwar Raja. The environs are fertile and shady, with 
noble banyan-trees, and several large tanks, and there are a good 
many temples. The population is of about 15,000 people. 

The Kamdar, Kooseah Baee, the same who met me yesterday, 
again received me with much civility at the entrance of the town, 
and conducted me to the encampment. He also expressed his 
hope that I would let him shew me the curiosities of his town in 
the cool of the evening, to which I assented more out of civility 
than from an expectation of finding any thing worth notice. He 
seemed pleased, and soon after sent a very plentiful dinner for 
the servants and every body in the camp, amounting, altogether, 
to no fewer than 350 persons. Pie said that he sent this by the 
Maharaja's order, and because this was the last of his towns that 
I should visit. In the evening too, when we prepared merely for 
a ride round the town, we found that we were expected to go in 
much pomp to the fort and see fire-works there. I was annoyed 
at being thus ensnared into a visit, but could not civilly draw back, 
and was accordingly received with a salute from the ramparts, 
and underwent the penance of sitting in a sort of unfinished pa- 
vilion in solemn durbar a good hour, while some Roman candles 
and rockets were let olF. The fort is large but old, and in bad re- 
pair ; its garrison seemed to consist of about 20 or 25 sepoys, 
dressed in red, with caps like those of the King of Oude's troops. 
Nothing was ever devised more ridiculously ugly than this head- 
dress, but the men were cleanly dressed and accoutred, and pre- 
sented arms with much smartness. The ceremony concluded by 
his giving me and my friends some shawls, and my returning the 



BEGGARS. 



123 



compliment by a similar present, the means of making which had 
been kindly and considerately supplied me by Mr. Williams. 

An unusual number of beggars were assembled at this station, 
some of whom, however, professed to have come from a distance 
from having heard my " name." Among them were two natives 
of Cabul who repeated Persian poetry, and a very holy yogi, his 
naked and emaciated body covered over with white powder, and 
an iron implement, like a flesh-hook, in his hand, Which is fre- 
quently carried by devotees in this part of India, but the meaning 
of which I forgot to enquire. There were divers miserable paint- 
ed females, who also said that they came from far to offer their 
services and salutations to "huzzoor;" and, lastly, there were 
half-a-dozen or more half-starved and more than half-naked figures, 
who had children at their breasts and in their hands, and who 
had no other claim on my attention than the strongest of all, " ah, 
Lord Sahib, our babies are dying of hunger !" On the whole, 
however, the number of beggars in every part of Guzerat has 
been less than I expected to find it in a year so unpropitious, and, 
certainly, not more, taking one day with another, than any man 
who should travel slowly, and with some degree of state and pub- 
licity through England, might find in its market-towns and vil- 
lages. My march, I can easily perceive, attracts considerable 
notice. The people of the towns and villages all throng to the 
road-side, the hedges, and windows to look at us, and I have con- 
sented to be a little longer on the road, and a good deal more 
dusted than I otherwise might be, rather than seem to underrate 
the marks of distinction which the Raja has assigned me, or to 
disappoint the towns-people of their show. We therefore go on 
in good order and in marching time the whole way, with the taw- 
dry banner of the Guicwar floating before us, the Nagari beating 
on our approach to a town, and Cabul decked out in full oriental 
costume, with the bridle and saddle which were given me at Ba- 
roda. Well it is for these poor peasants that the Maharatta ban- 
ner and kettle-drum are now to them no more than objects of 
curiosity and amusement. Ten years ago there were few parts 
of India where such a sight and sound would not have been a 
a sign of flight and tears ; the villagers instead of crowding to see 
us, would have come out indeed, but with their hands clasped, 
kissing the dust, and throwing down before the invader all their 
wives 1 silver ornaments, with bitter entreaties that the generous 
conquerer would condescend to take all they had and do them no 
further injury ; and accounting themselves but too happy if those 
prayers were heard, so that their houses were left unburnt, and 
their wives and daughters inviolate ! War is, doubtless, a dreadful 
evil every where, but war, as it is carried on in these countries, 

Vol. IT.— 16 



124 



GAUIMA, 



appears to have horrors which an European soldier can scarcely 
form an idea of. 

April 6. — We proceeded about seventeen miles to Gauima, a 
village near which we were to cross the sands at the mouth of 
the Mhye, and which would save us almost a day's march in our 
journey to Broach. The country though still, generally speaking, 
well cultivated, was less fertile and more woody and wild than 
that we had lately passed : the trees, however, were all of the 
same round-topped character, and 1 was continually reminded of 
some of the green lanes round Hodnet. 

We found our tents pitched on a small eminence, enjoying a 
delightful cool breeze, which sufficiently indicated the neighbour- 
hood of an arm of the sea. The estuary, however, of the Myhe 
was not visible, being shut out from us by intervening jungle, 
though, beyond this last, a blue and distant line of woods appear- 
ed, obviously shewing that a wide valley of some kind intervened. 
As we had received our accounts of this place, and its perfect 
practicability for the passage of horses, carnages, and camels, 
from a gentleman high in office and long experienced in this part 
of the country, we had none of us the smallest doubt but that 
the ford would be an easy one ; and I was much surprised and 
disappointed to learn from the Potail of the village, who came to 
call on me, that during spring tides the water was deep enough, 
even at ebb, to drown a camel ; that the ferry-boat was only cal- 
culated for foot-passengers ; and that, hearing of our approach, he 
had sent the day before to warn us that the ford was impractica- 
ble, though, unfortunately, his message did not appear to have 
arrived in Pitland time enough to stop us. The river was, he said, 
a coss and a half wide, of which, when the tide was out, about a 
third was occupied by water, and the rest was all mud and mus- 
cle-banks. Many Sahibs had passed that way, but, he thought, 
always, in boats, and certainly not at spring-tide ! The nearest 
place where, in his judgment, camels could pass, was Ometa, nine 
coss to the north, and a very little to the south of Fusilpoor where 
we crossed the river before. This was very provoking to us all, 
and I much regretted that I had allowed myself to be dissuaded 
from a plan which 1 had once entertained of going to Cambay, 
and getting a passage there, in some of the country boats, to Tun- 
karia Bunder, a road near Broach, where we might be met by 
the little vessel which the government had placed at my disposal. 
From Cambay, indeed, we were now only a day's march, but 
without previous notice no vessel could be got there ; and no 
plan appeared practicable of gaining my point, so far as Broach 
was concerned, which was to reach that city by Sunday, unless 
we could by some means or other get over this formidable frith. 
Dr. Smith kindly volunteered to go down in Archdeacon Barnes" 



PASSAGE OF THE MYHE. 



.125 



palanqueen to reconnoitre, and have some conversation with the 
ferrymen. The account which he brought back was sufficiently 
unfavourable, and entirely corresponded with that of the Potail. 
The boat, however, he said, was a large and good one, and two 
other boats might be obtained, so that he proposed that we our- 
selves, and our baggage, should pass here, and that the horses 
and unloaded camels should make a forced march by Ometa to 
join us on the other side. It at once, however, occurred to me, 
that the horses, at least, might with proper management swim 
over ; and Bappoor Maharatta, on being consulted, said that, un- 
loaded, he thought the camels might get through also, if they took 
the very lowest ebb, and did their work in the day time ; accord- 
ingly we sent to hire a sufficient number of carts to carry our 
goods down to the water's edge, since over the slippery ouse of 
the river no loaded camel could pass, and a similar number were 
engaged to meet us on the other side of the channel from the vil- 
lage of Dopkah. We also summoned two small ferry-boats from 
Dehwaun and a village between us and Ometa, to assist in pass- 
ing us over, and sent off this evening as many of our things as we 
could spare with the khansaman, a havildar, and fourteen sepoys, 
to the water's edge, in the hope that they might get over by the 
night's tide, and leave the morning's ebb free for the passage of 
the animals. 

The boats, however, were not ready ; and next morning, 
April 7, when I went to the scene of action a little before five, 
I found the embarkation going on slowly, though tolerably pros- 
perously. The breakfast-things and a few chairs had passed over, 
and the carts were employed in conveying the tents and other 
goods slowly over the deep ouse to the channel. The ebb was 
now pretty nearly at its lowest. From high-water mark, where 
the bank was steep, woody, and intersected by several narrow 
and deep ravines, was rather less than a mile of wet muddy sand 
and sludge, with streams of salt water in different parts, about as 
high as a man's waist. Then followed, perhaps, half-a-mile of 
water, where we saw the boats waiting for us. We got into the 
smallest boats from our horses' backs, and taking off their saddles, 
led one to each side ; the saeeses, who were with us in the boat, 
holding the halters. Four horses more were in the same manner 
fastened, two on a side, to the large boat, which was under the 
care of Abdullah ; and we thus proceeded prosperously, though 
our poor steeds were grievously frightened when they felt them- 
selves out of their depth. We ourselves were a little dismayed 
on finding, as we drew near the opposite beach, that the stream 
flowed close under its deep side, and that the ghat for landing was 
very crumbling, abrupt, and difficult for every animal but man. 
It is very clear, indeed, that under such circumstances as the 



126 DOPKAH. 

present, no horses had ever passed at this place before ; but ours 
were all unincumbered, and of good courage ; and when let loose, 
with the land in sight, scrambled up happly without receiving 
any damage. The Company's cavalry followed in the same way 
that we had done, and then the Maharattas. I had directed these 
to stay to the last, but there was no keeping them back ; and, as 
the tide by this time was flowing again, the camels were obliged 
to wait till the afternoon, when they also passed, though with 
some difficulty, yet safely. 

The village of Dopkah, where we remained for the day, is about 
two miles from the shore, the interval being wild and jungly, and 
I had here again occasion to observe, what had struck me repeat- 
edly before, that not only palms of every kind are rare in Guzerat, 
but that bamboos are never seen either in jungles or cultivated 
grounds. What peculiarity it is of soil or of climate, which de- 
prives this district of two of the most useful and ornamental plants 
which India produces, I cannot guess. 

Dopkah is a small village, prettily situated, belonging to the 
Maharaja. It is completely out of any usually frequented road, 
and I had the mortification of finding that our coming with so 
numerous a party occasioned not only surprise, but alarm and 
distress ; the Potail shed many tears, anticipating a complete 
destruction to his remaining stock of hay, a loss which no pecu- 
niary payment could, in such a year as this, make up to him. 
I pitied him and his villagers heartily, and gave directions that 
all the neighbouring hamlets should be laid under contribution, so 
that each would only have to furnish a little, and none need he 
quite stripped. Bappoo Maharatta offered to pay all demands for 
boats, hackeries, coolies, &c. ; but having some doubt how far the 
peasants were safe in his hands, I said that I wished to see them 
all myself. J had, in consequence, assembled before my tent a 
most wild and extraordinary group of four village Potails, twenty- 
four boatmen, twenty-seven carters, and fifty coolies, who were 
so well pleased at receiving any thing, that when I had distributed 
among them the payments to which I thought them fully entitled, 
they actually testified their content by acclamation. It was, 
indeed, an expensive day's work, but did not, after all, amount to 
more than about 37 rupees ; a sum which, in England, would 
be thought little enough for the trajet of such a party as ours over 
such a frith. 

The Potails of Guzerat are very inferior in dress, manners, 
and general appearance, to the Zemindars of Hindostan. Their 
manner, however, though less polished, is more independent; and 
here, as in Central India, instead of standing with joined hands 
in the presence of a superior they immediately sit down, even if 
they do not advance to embrace him, Almost all of them, as 



POTAILS OF GUZERAT. 



127 



well as their ryuts, and indeed all the inhabitants of the country, 
are armed, some with bows and arrows, and all, or nearly all, 
with sabres. Their dress is generally ragged and dirty, and they 
seem to pay less attention to personal cleanliness than any Hin- 
doos whom I have met with. Some of the peasants who were 
assembled were tall stout men, but the average were considerably 
under the middle size. 

The day was hot, and we had, unfortunately, neither shade 
nor breeze. I left two sepoys at this village sick, with one con- 
valescent to take care of them. The distance from hence to 
Baroda is only about eighteen miles, and I thought it most hu- 
mane to take them no further from their homes, since Dr. Smith 
hoped that, with the help of a single day's rest, they would be 
well able to return thither. The convalescent man was very 
unwilling to leave our party, but it was necessary to be positive 
with him. 

Some complaints were brought by the country people against 
the sepoys, for bullying and maltreating them ; and I was com- 
pelled to send a sharp reprimand to the jemautdar for not keep- 
ing his men in more order. I do not remember any complaints 
of the sort occurring against the Hindoostanee sepoys, during the 
whole course of my journey ; but I am not sure whether they 
are really better behaved, or whether these Guzerattee peasants 
may be more quick in resenting, and less patient under injuries, 
than our subjects in the northern provinces. I own that I sus- 
pect the former to be the case ; yet in exterior, smartness of drill, 
and obedience to officers, nothing can exceed the little Bombay 
sepoy. They are, however, evidently a more lively and thought- 
less, and I think a more irascible and less sober race than their 
Hindoostanee brethren ; and such men, with arms in their hands, 
are apt to be rash and peremptory. 

April 8. — We continued our journey to a village called Sakra, 
on the banks of the same small river (the Dhandur,) which flows 
by Baroda. The distance was about fourteen miles, the greater 
part of which was over a black soil, with many deep cracks, 
chiefly cultivated in cotton, and, apparently, of inferior fertility 
to the red sandy soil which we had found every where north-west 
of the Mhye. At Sakra we met a large party of poor Cattywar 
emigrants, who had formed themselves, (as they said,) out of pure 
want, into a society of religious beggars and jugglers, with the 
usual equipments of beads, peacocks 1 feathers, tame snakes, and 
music. I observed to some of them that they were strong, able- 
bodied men, and might work ; to which they answered, " How 
can we work when God gives no rain V I asked whither they 
were going, and a poor woman replied "a begging. 1 ' They were 
very thankful for a trifling charity which I gave to their chief, 



$28 BROACH. 

whom they called their "Khaleefa," (Caliph) a title which I had 
not heard before in India. Here, however, it is one of many cir- 
cumstances which marks our approach to the Arabian Gulph. 
The price of flour at present was about three anas the seer, or 
three half-pence per pound English, which even in England would 
be thought a grievous rate, how much more in a land where there 
is so little money stirring, and where the prices of labour are so 
much lower than in England ! 

April 9. — We went thirteen miles more to a village called 
Tekaria, where we re-entered the Company's territory. t The 
country still, and, indeed, all the way to Broach, was chiefly cul- 
tivated with cotton., the roads very bad and worn into deep juts, 
the trees less tall, spreading, and numerous than we had been ac- 
customed to see. 

Mr. Boyd, the Collector of Broach, kindly sent two revenue 
officers, a tussildar, and an inferior functionary, with some suwarrs 
to act as guides, and to procure us the usual supplies. The 
tussildar and his assistant were old men of the Mahommedan 
sect of Boras, and, whether justly so or no, seemed regarded as 
usurers and oppressors by the people under their care. The 
Boras in general are unpopular, and held in the same estimation 
for parsimony that the Jews are in England. Abdullah said, 
translating the expressions of some of the common people, con- 
cerning them, that they were " an abominable nation." 

April 10. — This day we reached Broach, a large ruinous city 
on the northern bank of the Nerbudda. We were hospitably 
entertained in the house of Mr. Corsellis, the commercial agent. 
His dwelling, as usual in this Presidency, is in the middle of the 
town, but on an elevated terrace within the ramparts of the old 
fort, and commanding an extensive view of the river, which is a 
noble sheet of water of, I should guess, two miles across even, 
at ebb tide. It is very shallow, however, except at flood, and 
even then admits no vessels beyond the bar at Tunkaria Bunde 
larger than a moderate sized lighter. The boats which navigate 
it are rigged with large lateen sails, instead of square or lug, ano- 
ther peculiarity in which the habits of this side of India approach 
those of the Levant and the Arabian sea, rather than those of 
Bengal. Broach, by the help of these boats, drives on a consider- 
able trade in cotton which it sends down to Bombay. It is now, 
however, a poor and dilapidated place, and also reckoned very 
hot and unwholesome. For its heat I can answer, though 
Mr. Corsellis, having been a good deal in Calcutta with Lord 
Wellesley, keeps his house far cooler than is usually done on this 
side of India ; and it is, I understand, remarked in Malwah, 
though I cannot give any probable reason for the difference, that 
the black soil, such as we have lately been traversing, is more 



HOSPITAL FOR ANIMALS, &c. 



129 



unhealthy than the redder kinds. Broach has a small but neat 
room within the enclosure of the Judges' cutcherry, fitted up 
and furnished as a Church, in which I preached and administered 
the Sacrament to about twelve persons. The whole congre- 
gation consisted of about twenty. Mr. Jeffries, the Chaplain of 
Surat, comes over hither once a month, and was now Mr. Cor- 
selhVs guest. 

We dined early, and in the afternoon enjoyed, though almost 
40 miles from the open sea, a fine south-west sea-breeze, which 
came up with the flood-tide and cooled the air very pleasantly. 
This seems one of the few favourable circumstances in the climate 
of the place, and even this is not always to be counted on. In 
fact, by all which I had as yet learned of the climate of the Bom- 
bay Presidency, and by all which I had seen of the pale com- 
plexions and premature signs of old age which distinguish the 
civil and military servants of the Company in Guzerat, from those 
in the upper provinces of Bengal, and even in Calcutta itself, I 
was led to conclude that, though Bombay itself might enjoy, as 
they all assured me it did, an agreeable temperature during many 
months in. the year, there was no part of India so generally 
unfriendly to European health as Guzerat, and, with the single 
exception of Poonah, the other continental dependencies of this 
Presidency. Nor do its inhabitants seem to take advantage, as 
they might do, of the few alleviations and remedies of heat which 
are recurred to by the English on the other side of India ; I have 
seen several houses without punkahs. Their tatties are ill made 
and ill managed ; their roofs, instead of pucka or thatch, are com- 
posed of thin and ill made tiles which are scarcely any defence 
against the sun. The European comforts and luxuries which their 
shops supply, are said to be both dearer and worse than those 
of Calcutta, and though they all complain, with apparent reason, 
of the high price and inferior quality of provisions and labour, 
they are unacquainted with the comfortable and economical 
arrangements which enable the military officers of the different 
stations of the Bengal establishment to keep flocks, slaughter 
bullocks, and import wine, &c. in common. 

At Broach is one of those remarkable institutions which have 
made a good deal of noise in Europe as instances of Hindoo bene- 
volence to inferior animals. I mean hospitals for sick and infirm 
beasts, birds, and insects. I was not able to visit it, but Mr. 
Corsellis described it as a very dirty and neglected place, which, 
though it has considerable endowments in land, only serves to 
enrich the brahmins who manage it. They have really animals of 
several different kinds there, not only those which are accounted 
sacred by the Hindoos, as monkeys, peacocks, &c. but horses, 
dogs, and cats, and .they have also, in little boxes, an assortment 



I 



130 



KIM CHOWKEE. 



of lice and fleas. It is not true, however, that thej feed those 
pensioners on the flesh of beggars hired for the purpose. The 
brahmins say that insects, as well as the other inmates of their 
infirmary, are fed with vegetables only, such as rice, &c. How 
the insects thrive I did not hear, but the old horses and dogs, 
nay, the peacocks and apes, are allowed to starve, and the only 
creatures said to be in any tolerable plight are some milch cows, 
which may be kept from other motives than charity. 

Another curiosit}*" in this neighbourhood is the celebrated bur 
or banyan tree, called Kuveer Bur, from a saint who is said to 
have planted it. It stands on, and entirely covers an island of 
the Nerbudda about twelve miles above Broach. Of this tree, 
which has been renowned ever since the first coming of the Por- 
tuguese to India, which is celebrated by our early voyagers and by 
Milton, and which, the natives tell us, boasted a shade sufficiently 
broad to shelter 10,000 horse, a considerable part has been washed 
away with the soil on which it stood, within these few years, by 
the freshes of the river, but enough remains, as I was assured, to 
make it one of the noblest groves in the world, and well worthy of 
all the admiration which it has received. This I would gladly 
have seen, but I had too many motives to urge me on to Bombay 
to allow of my sacrificing, as I apprehended I must have done, 
two days for the purpose of going and returning. Had I known 
all the difficulties of the usual ferry at Broach, 1 should have been 
tempted to march my camp round by a ford near this famous 
tree ; but this, like most other matters respecting Indian travelling, 
I had to learn by experience. 

April 11. — This day we crossed the Nerbudda, a task attended 
with considerable expense, and great delay and difficulty, but, 
happily, without harm to man or beast. There was only one 
horse-boat properly provided with a platform, and that of small 
dimensions, only fit to carry four horses at most, while the going 
and returning took up at least an hour. The camels were there- 
fore to be packed in the common boats used on the river, which 
were indeed large and stout enough, but such as they were very 
unwilling to enter, and were forced in with great labour and dif- 
ficulty, as well as much beating and violence to the poor animals ; 
we got over, however, soon after dark in the evening, and slept 
at a small village named Oklaisir about four miles and a half from 
the southern bank. We crossed over, ourselves, in a stout boat, 
called here a bundur boat, I suppose from " bundur," a harbour, 
with two masts and two lateen sails, which was lent us by our 
kind host, Mr. Corsellis. 

April 12. — We rode to Kim Chowkee, about sixteen miles, 
through a wilder country than we had lately seen, with a good 
deal of jungle and some herds of deer ; at Kim Chowkee is a large 



SERAI. 



131 



Serai, called here "Durrumsallah," which is kept in good repair, 
having a picquet of sepoys to protect passengers from robbers ; 
and, in one angle of the building, a roomy but hot and ill-con- 
trived bungalow for European travellers. We found here (that 
is in the low corridores and verandahs of the building) a consi- 
derable crowd of Borah inhabitants of Surat, who had come out 
thus far to meet the Moullah of their sect, whose usual residence 
is in the city, but who had now been on a spiritual journey into 
Malwah, where he had narrowly escaped death in the quarrel 
between his sect and the Patans at Mundissore. The Patans, 
indeed, had declared, in revenge for the death of their own 
preacher, whose slaughter I have already mentioned, that the 
Moullah should never return to Surat alive, and the news of his 
near approach, and of his being on the safe side of the Nerbudda 
had called out an enthusiasm in his people, such as the sober and 
money-making Borahs seem to be not often susceptible of. 

The men whom we met here to-day were grave, wealthy- 
looking burghers, travelling in covered carts, drawn, each of them, 
by two of the large and handsome Guzerattee oxen, and orna- 
mented and equipped in a style which made them by no means 
inconvenient or inelegant vehicles. One which was destined to 
receive the Moullah on his arrival, was a sort of miniature coach 
or palanqueen carriage shaped like a coach, with Venetian blinds, 
and very handsomely painted dark green. The oxen had all bells 
round their necks, and the harness of many was plated with 
massive silver ornaments. The Moullah did not arrive so soon 
as he was expected, otherwise the Serai would have offered the 
spectacle of a curious mixture of creeds; as it was, we had Mus- 
sulmans of three different sects (Omar, Ali, and Hussun) Hin- 
doos of almost every caste from brahmins to sweepers, divers 
worshippers of fire, several Portuguese Roman Catholics, an 
English Bishop and Archdeacon with one lay-member of their 
sect, a Scottish Presbyterian, and two poor Greeks from Trebi- 
zond, who were on a begging journey to redeem their families 
from slavery. The whole number of lodgers in and about the 
Serai, probably, did not fall short of 500 persons. What an ad- 
mirable scene for Eastern romance would such an inn as this 
afford ! 

April 13. — From Kim Chowkee to the river Taptee is almost 
fourteen miles, through a country still wild, and ill-cultivated, 
though, apparently, not unfruitful. This district is one of those 
recently acquired by the Company from the ruins of the Peish- 
wah's empire ; and it struck me that its neglected state was in- 
dicative of internal misgovernment; but I afterwards learned, 
that this apparent desolation does not extend far from the road- 
side, and that, in point of fact, the Collectorship is a very pro- 

Vol. II. — 



132 



SURAT. 



ductive one. The banks of the Taptee are prettily edged with 
gardens, and here, at length, the coco-nut tree re-appeared. The 
tide was out, and we passed the stream by fording ; on the other 
bank we were met by Mr. Romer, the Senior Judge of the Adaw- 
lut, a very clever and agreeable man, who had kindly asked us 
to his house, and had now brought carriages to meet us. 

From the river-side to the gates of Surat are four miles and 
a half, through gardens and a deep sandy lane ; thence we drove 
through the city, nearly two miles, to Mr. Romer's house, where 
we found spacious, but very hot, apartments provided for us. 
Surat, or as the natives pronounce it, Soorut, (beauty) is a very 
large and ugly city, with narrow winding streets, and high houses 
of timber-frames filled up with bricks, the upper stories project- 
ing over each other. The wall is entire and in good repair, with 
semicircular bastions and battlements like those of the Kremlin. 
Its destruction, or abandonment to ruin, has been more than once 
talked of ; but the feeling of security which the natives derive 
from such a rampart, and the superior facilities which it affords 
to the maintenance of a good police, and the collection of the 
town duties, have, with good reason, preponderated in favour 
of supporting it. The circuit of the city is about six miles in a 
semicircle, of which the river Taptee or Tapee forms the chord; 
near the centre of this chord, and washed by the river, stands a 
small castle, with round bastions, glacis, and covered way, in 
which a few sepoys and European artillerymen are stationed, 
and which is distinguished by the singularity of two flagstaves, 
on one of which is displayed an union-jack, on the other a plain 
red flag, the ancient ensign of the Emperors of Delhi. This ar- 
rangement was adopted, I believe, in courtesy, at the time when 
the East India Company conquered the fort from the Nawab of 
Surat, and has never since been discontinued, though the Nawab 
like the Emperor himself, is now only a pensioner on the bounty 
or justice of the Government. In the neighbourhood of this fort 
are most of the English houses, of a good size, and surrounded 
by extensive compounds, but not well contrived to resist heat, 
and arranged with a strange neglect both of tatties and punkahs. 
Without the walls are a French factory, containing some hand- 
some and convenient building's, but now quite deserted by their 
proper owners, and occupied by different English officers who 
pay a rent to some country-born people, who pretend to have an 
interest in them, and a Dutch factory, also empty, the chief of 
which is only waiting the orders of his Government to surrender 
this, like the other Dutch settlements, to the English. The 
French factory had been restored to that nation at the peace, 
and a governor and several officers came to take possession. The 
diseases, however, of the climate attacked them with unusual 
severity. The governor died, and his suite was so thinned that 



* 



SURAT. 



133 



the few survivors returned to the Isle of Bourbon, whence no- 
body has been sent to supply their place. 

The trade of Surat, indeed, is now of very trifling consequence, 
consisting of little but raw cotton, which is shipped in boats for 
Bombay. All the manufactured goods of the country are under- 
sold by the English, except kincob and shawls, for which there is 
very little demand ; a dismal decay has consequently taken place 
in the circumstances of the native merchants ; and an instance fell 
under my knowledge in which an ancient Mussulman family, 
formerly of great wealth and magnificence, were attempting to 
dispose of their library, a very valuable one, for subsistence. 
There is a small congregation of Armenians in a state of decay 
and general poverty ; but the most thriving people are the Bo- 
rahs (who drive a trade all through this part of India as bunyans 
and money-lenders) and the Parsees. These last are proprietors 
of half the houses in Surat, and seem to thrive where nobody else 
but the Borahs can glean even a scanty maintenance. The boats 
which lie in Surat river, are of thirty or forty tons, half-decked, 
with two masts and two very large lateen sails : vessels of greater 
draught must lie about fifteen miles off, below the bar, at the 
mouth of the Taptee, but except the ketches in the Company's 
service, few larger vessels ever come here. The English society 
is unusually numerous and agreeable, as this city is the station not 
only of a considerable military force, but of a Collector, a Board 
of Custom, a Circuit Court, and the Sudder Adawlut for the 
whole Presidency of Bombay, which for the greater conveniency 
of the people, and on account of its central situation, Mr. Elphin- 
stone has wisely removed hither. There is a very neat and con- 
venient Church, which I consecrated on Sunday, April 17th, as 
well as an extensive and picturesque burial-ground, full of large 
but ruinous tombs of the former servants of the Company : most 
of these are from 120 to 180 years old, and in the Mussulman 
style of architecture, with large apartments surmounted by vaults, 
and containing within two or three tombs, exactly like those of 
the Mahometans, except that the bodies lie East and West, instead 
of North and South. The largest of these buildings is that in 
memory of Sir George Oxenden, one of the earliest Governors of 
British India, at the time when British India comprised little more 
than the factory at this place, and the then almost desolate Island 
of Bombay. He could hardly at that time have even dreamed 
how great a territory his countrymen would possess in India ; yet 
I must say that the size and solidity of his sepulchre is not un- 
worthy that of one of the first founders of an empire. 

I neither saw nor could hear of any distinguished Mussulman 
or Hindoo building in Surat. The NawaVs residence is modern, 
but not particularly handsome ; he has no territory, but a pension 



134 



EMBARKATION. 



of a lack and a half per annum. Fie sent me some civil messages, 
but did not call. He is said to be a young man, much addicted 
to low company, and who shuts himself up even from the most 
respectable families of his own sect. I received civil messages, 
and offers of visits from the Borah Moullah, — the Mogul Cazi, 
and other learned Mussulmans, but excused myself, being, in fact, 
fully occupied, and a good deal oppressed by the heat which 
almost equalled that in Kairah, and exceeded any thing which I 
had felt in other parts of the country. On the whole, Sural, 
except in its society, which is no where excelled in British India, 
appears to me an uninteresting and unpleasant city, and, in beauty 
of situation, inferior even to Broach. 

The Education Society of Bombay have a school here, where 
a considerable number of Parsee, Mussulman, and Hindoo boys 
are instructed in writing, reading, arithmetic, and English. They 
read the Scriptures, as a text-book, without objection, and their 
progress seemed highly creditable. Some of the boys were of good 
families. The schoolmaster is an old soldier, but the chief con- 
ductor of the school is Mr. Jefferies the chaplain. 

April 17. — We left Surat in a large lateen-sailed boat with 
twelve rowers, for the mouth of the Taptee, where the Vigilant 
Company's ketch was waiting to receive us. The bar at the 
mouth of the river is broad, and sometimes said to be formidable 
to boats. When we passed there was a considerable swell, but 
the surf by no means high or dangerous. The Vigilant we found 
a vessel of about sixty tons, very neat and clean, with a good 
cuddy, and two small cabins partitioned from it ; she carried six 
little carronades, and had a crew of twenty men ; twelve sepoys, 
who form a part of its establishment, had been removed, to make 
room for us, on board the two country boats which received our 
luggage and horses. The Serang was a Mussulman, a decent and 
intelligent man, and the crew, though not very nimble or alert in 
their movements, were, to all appearance, steady, and tolerably 
acquainted with their business. In other respects the bark was 
a bad one ; a heavy sailer, rolling and pitching severely, and a 
bad sea-boat, having the scuppers of her deck so low in the wa- 
ter that on shipping a sea, the crew had no resource but baleing. 
The wind, which had been for some time unfavourable, blew al- 
most a gale from the S. W. and we remained at anchor the whole 
of the day, tossing and pitching very uncomfortably. 

Early next morning we dropped down with the tide for a few 
miles ; and, the wind drawing round a little more to the north as 
the sun rose, we made a pretty good run to the parallel of Da- 
maun, a Portuguese settlement, at the foot of some high hills, and 
thence to within sight of the yet higher range of " St. John." We 
ran on through the night. 



ARRIVAL AT BOMBAY. 



135 



At breakfast on Wednesday the 19th, we passed the mountains 
of Bassein, exhibiting, besides some meaner elevations, one very 
high hill of a table form, and another not quite so elevated, rising 
in a conical peak. Thence we coasted the islands of Salsette and 
Bombay, both rocky, and in some parts considerably elevated, but 
with the high mountains of the Concan seen rising behind 'both. 
Though at a considerable distance from the shore, we passed a 
vast number of bamboos, planted as fishing-stakes, and a fleet of 
boats, which, like all others which I have seen on this coast, had 
large lateen sails. They were extremely picturesque ; and though, 
apparently, not very manageable, made their way fast through the 
water : they could not tack, but wore with great celerity and ac- 
curacy ; and, though their gunwales were often scarcely above 
the water, impressed me with the idea of their being good sea- 
boats, and good sailers. Their style of rigging differs from that of 
the Mediterranean, in that they have seldom more than two masts, 
of which the hinder is much the smallest. They have also a bow- 
sprit, and their sails, instead of being a right-angled triangle, have 
the foremost angle cut off, so as to bring them nearer the princi- 
ple of a lug-sail. They are very white, being, I believe, made of 
cotton. As the sun set we saw the Bombay light-house, and, about 
midnight, anchored in .the mouth of the harbour. 



136 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

BOMBAY. 

BLAND OF ELEPHANT A SALSETTE GORA-BUNDER BASSEIN CAVE 

TEMPLE OF KENNERY PAREIL ORAN OUTANG JOURNEY TO FOO- 

NAH GHATS CAVE AT CARLEE POONAH— -CONQUEST AND GOVERN- 
MENT OF THE DECKAN CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH AT TANNAH 

MR. ELPHINSTONE DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF BOMBAY DE- 
PARTURE. 

April 26. — My dear wife and elder girl arrived at Bombay af- 
ter a tedious and distressing voyage, both from weather and sick- 
ness. As the journal kept by the former gives a just idea of the 
principal things which we saw in Bombay and its neighbourhood, 
I shall merely make a few observations on some of the more strik- 
ing objects and occurrences. 

On the 28th was my visitation (a confirmation of about 120 
children had occurred a few days before) attended by the Arch- 
deacon, (Dr. Barnes,) six chaplains and one missionary, being all 
within a reasonable distance of Bombay. 

On May 5th the foundation of a Free School, on the same plan 
with that of Calcutta, was laid. The ceremony was numerously 
attended, and the institution, which has been for some time in ac- 
tivity, though in a hired and inconvenient building, appears very 
nourishing, and likely to be productive of great good. The plan 
and elevation of the intended schools, by Lieutenant J ervis of the 
Engineers, I think a very elegant and judicious one. 

On the 8th we went to see Elephanta, of which my wife has 
given an account in her journal,* and of which a more regular 

* The principal cave is of considerable extent, excavated out of the solid 
rock, and the roof supported by pillars, now in a state of decay, carved out in 
the same manner, and handsomely ornamented. The different shrines which 
contain the emblems of Hindoo worship are placed on either side, and, gene- 
rally, their entrances are guarded by colossal bas-relief figures, whilst on the 
walls are sculptured figures of Siva and his wife Parvati, the former in one 
compartment with a chaplet of skulls round his neck, and with eight hands, 
bearing his usual attributes of the Cobra de Capello, also of colossal size, and 
some of the avatars of Vishnu, and other mythological fables of their religion. 
Even now the whole is sadly defaced, and though an European serjeant has 
been for some years appointed to preserve it from injury by man, the climate 
does its work of devastation slowly but surely, and it appears probable that at 
no very distant period little will remain to shew what this temple had been in 



ISLAND OF ELEPHANTA. 



137 



description is needless after all which Mr. Erskine and others have 
written on it. I will only observe that the Island of Elephanta, 
or Shapooree, is larger and more beautiful than I expected, con- 
taining, I should suppose, upwards of a thousand acres, a good 
deal of which is in tillage, with a hamlet of tolerable size, but the 
major part is very beautiful wood and rock, being a double-point- 
ed hill, rising from the sea to some height. The stone elephant, 
from which the usual Portuguese name of the Island is derived, 
stands in a field about a quarter of a mile to the right of the usual 
landing-place. It is about three times as big as life, rudely sculp- 
tured, and very much dilapidated by the weather. The animal 
on its back, which Mr. Erskine supposes to be a tyger, has no 
longer any distinguishable shape. From the landing-place, a steep 
and narrow path, but practicable for palanqueens, leads up the 
hill, winding prettily through woods and on the brinks of preci- 
pices, so as very much to remind me of Hawkstone. About half 
a mile up is the first cave, which is a sort of portico supported by 
two pillars and two pilasters, and seeming as if intended for the 
entrance to a rock temple which has not been proceeded in. A 
quarter of a mile further, and two-thirds of the ascent up the high- 
er of the two hills, is the great cavern, in a magnificent situation, 
and deserving all the praise which has been lavished on it. For 
its details I again refer to Mr. Erskine, merely noticing that, though 
my expectations were highly raised, the reality much exceeded 
them, and that both the dimensions, the proportions, and the 
sculpture, seemed to me to be of a more noble character, and a 
more elegant execution than I had been led to suppose. Even the 
statues are executed with great spirit, and are some of them of no 
common beauty, considering their dilapidated condition and the 
coarseness of their material. 

At the upper end of the principal cave, which is in the form 
of a cross, and exceedingly resembles the plan of an ancient 
basilica, is an enormous bust with three faces, reaching from the 
pavement to the ceiling of the temple. It has generally been sup- 
posed, and is so even by Mr. Erskine, a representation of the 
Trimurti, or Hindoo Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. But 
more recent discoveries have ascertained that Siva himself, to 
whose worship and adventures most of the other ornaments of the 
cave refer, is sometimes represented with three faces, so that the 
temple is evidently one to the popular deity of the modern Hin- 
doos alone. Nor could I help remarking, that the style of orna- 
ment, and proportions of the pillars, the dress of the figures, and 

the days of its glory. The view from the mouth of the cavern is very beautiful. 
Although we were out during the hottest hours of the day, in one of the worst 
months, we never were much oppressed by the heat. In Bengal such an ex- 
cursion could not have been contemplated. — Extract from Editor's Journal 



138 



ISLAND OF ELEPHANTA. 



all the other circumstances of the place, are such as may be seen 
at this day in every temple of Central India, and among all those 
Indian nations where the fashions of the Mussulmans have made 
but little progress. Those travellers who fancied the contrary, 
had seen little of India but Bombay. From these circumstances, 
then, nothing can be learned as to the antiquity of this wonderful 
cavern, and I am myself disposed, for several reasons, to think 
that this is not very remote. 

The rock out of which the temple is carved, is by no means 
calculated to resist, for any great length of time, the ravages of 
the weather. It evidently suffers much from the annual rains ; a 
great number of the pillars (nearly one-third of the whole) have 
been undermined by the accumulation of water in the cavern, and 
the capitals of some, and part" of the shafts of others, remain 
suspended from the top like huge stalactites, the bases having 
completely mouldered away. These ravages are said to have 
greatly increased in the memory of persons now resident in Bom- 
bay, though for many years back the cave has been protected from 
wanton depredation, and though the sculptures, rather than the 
pillars, would probably have suffered from that vulgar love of 
knick-knacks and specimens which prevails among the English, 
more than most nations of the world. 

A similar rapidity of decomposition has occured in the ele- 
phant already spoken of, which, when Niebuhr saw it, was, by 
his account, far more perfect than it now is. But if thirty or 
forty years can have produced such changes in this celebrated 
temple, it is hardly reasonable to suppose that any part of it is so 
old as is sometimes apprehended. It has been urged, as aground 
for this apprehension, that the Hindoos of the present day pay no 
reverence to this temple, or its images. This is not altogether 
true, since I myself noticed very recent marks of red paint on one 
of the lingams, and flowers are notoriously offered up here by 
the people of the island. It is, however, certainly not a famous 
place among the Hindoos. No pilgrims come hither from a dis- 
tance, nor are there any brahmins stationary at the shrine. But 
this proves nothing as to its antiquity, inasmuch as the celebrity 
of a place of worship, with them, depends on many circumstances 
quite distinct from the size and majesty of the building. Its foun- 
der may have died before he had completed his work, in which 
case nobody would go on with it. He may have failed in conci- 
liating the brahmins ; or, supposing it once to have been a place 
of eminence, which is a mere gratis assumption, since we have 
neither inscription, history, or legend to guide us, — it is impossible 
to say when or how it may have been desecrated, whether by the 
first Mussulman invaders, or by the Portuguese in the sixteenth 
century. From the supposed neglect of the natives, therefore, 



EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 



139 



nothing can be concluded, inasmuch as, from the exact similarity 
of mythology between these sculptures, and the idols of the pre- 
sent day, it is plain that this neglect does not arise from any change 
of customs. It has been urged, that the size and majesty of the 
excavation compel us to suppose that it must have been made by 
some powerful Hindoo sovereign, and, consequently, before the 
first Mussulman invasion. This would be no very appalling 
antiquity ; but, even for this, there is no certain ground. The 
expence and labour of the undertaking are really by no means so 
enormous as might be fancied. The whole cavern is a mere trifle 
in point of extent, when compared with the great salt-mine at 
Northwich ; and there are now, and always have been, Rajas, 
and wealthy merchants in India, who, though not enjoying the 
rank of independent sovereigns, are not unequal to the task of 
hewing a huge stone quarry into a cathedral. On the whole, in 
the perfect absence of any inscription or tradition which mi^ht 
guide us, we may assign to Elephanta any date we please. It may be 
a,s old as the Parthenon, or it may be as modern as Henry Vllth's 
chapel. But though the truth probably lies between the two, 
1 am certainly not disposed to assign to it any great degree of 
antiquity. 

We accompanied the governor and a large party on a tour 
through Salsette on the 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th* This is a very 

* An excursion to Salsette to see the cave temple of Kennery,together with 
some interesting- places on the island, had for some time been in contemplation, 
and we set out on the 25th to join Mr. Elphinstone and a large party at Tool- 
sey. On leaving Matoonga, an artillery cantonment about the centre of the 
island, the country became interesting as well from its novelty as from its in- 
creased beauty. The road lay principally through a valley formed by hills of 
a moderate height, covered, wherever the rocks allowed of its growth, with 
underwood to their summits, while the valleys were planted with groves of 
mangoes and palms, with some fine timber trees. A very shallow arm of the 
sea divides Bombay from Salsette, and on an eminence commanding it is a 
fort, apparently of some strength, built originally as a defence against the Ma- 
harattas, and still inhabited by an European officer with a small guard ; the 
islands are now connected by a causeway. The mountains in Salsette are 
considerably higher than those of Bombay, but covered with thicker jungle, 
while the valleys are more shut in, and consequently less healthy. We saw 
but few traces of inhabitants during a drive of eight miles, passing but one 
small villao-e consisting of a most miserable collection of huts. 

At Vear we left our carriages, and proceeded on horseback and in palan- 
queens through the jungle to Toolsey, the place of our encampment. This 
lovely spot is surrounded by mountains of considerable height, forming a small 
wooded amphitheatre, in the centre of which grows a fine banyan-tree. Here 
our tents were pitched, and I never saw a more beautiful scene than it afford- 
ed. The brilliant colours and varieties of dress on innumerable servants, the horses 
bivouacked under the trees with each its attendant saees, the bullocks, carts, 
hackeries, and natives of all descriptions in crowds, the fires prepared for cook- 
ing, the white tents pitched in the jungle, together with the groupes formed by 
the different parties on their arrival, altogether formed a, coup (Vaiil which I can 
never forget, and which can be only seen in a tropical climate. 

Vol. II.— 18 



140 



EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 



beautiful island, united with the smaller one of Bombay by a 
causeway, built in the time of governor Duncan, a work of great 

Our tent was pitched close to a tyger-trap, then unset ; there are a good 
many tygers in the island, and one was killed a short time previous to our ar- 
rival. This was the first night I had ever slept under canvass, and but for the 
heat, which was intense, I could not have wished for more comfortable quarters ; 
but Toolsey, from its peculiar situation, is reckoned one of the hottest places in 
India. 

Early the next morning the Bishop and I mounted our horses, and took an 
exploring ride among the rocks and woods ; some rain had fallen in the night, 
which had cooled and refreshed the air. The morning was delightful, a num- 
ber of singing-birds, among Avhose notes I could distinguish those of the night- 
ingale and thrush, were performing a beautiful concert, while the jungle-fowl 
were crowing merrily all around, and monkeys, the first which I had seen in 
their natural state, were sporting with their young ones among the trees ; I en- 
joyed the ride exceedingly, and left the rocks with regret, though, from the sun 
being clouded over, we had been already enabled to stay out till eight o'clock. 

After breakfast, at which meal we all assembled in the public tent, some 
Cashmerian singers, with one Nach man, dressed in female clothes, amused us 
with their songs and national dances. Some of their tunes were very pretty, 
and the dancing was more energetic than any which I had seen in Calcutta, 
and generally accompanied the singing ; at the end of each verse the performer 
made a pirouette, and squatted down, forming with his clothes what, in our 
counties, is called a Cheshire-cheese. 

At four o'clock in the evening we set out, some on horse-back, and some in 

palanqueens, to the caves, with which the hill is literally perforated It was 

late before we returned. Our path wound along the sides of the rocks, and was 
hardly wide enough in places for a palanqueen to pass. The effect of so large 
a party proceeding in single file, with torches, occasionally appearing and dis- 
appearing, among the rocks and woods, with a bright Indian moon shining 
over-head, was picturesque and beautiful in the highest degree. I happened 
to be the last, and had a full view of the procession, which extended for nearly 
half a mile. In northern latitudes one can form no idea of the brilliancy of the 
moon, nor of the beauty of a night such as this, rendered more enjoyable from 
the respite which it affords from the heat of the day. 

April 25. — We left our tents early the next morning,. Mrs. Macdonald and I, 
with most of the gentlemen of the party, on horseback, to proceed to Tanna, a 
town with a fort, on the eastern coast of the island. From thence to Salsette 
we went in a bunder boat, and there embarked on board the Governor's yacht, 
where we found breakfast prepared, and sailed for about seven miles through 
scenery of a very remarkable character. The islands between which we passed 
lie so close to each other, that I could scarcely believe myself on the sea. On 
one side the prospect is bounded by the magnificent Ghats, with their fantastic 
basaltic summits, and the islands are occasionally adorned with ruins of Por- 
tuguese churches and convents. In one of these, Gorabunder, situated on a 
steep eminence, and guarded by a fort, we dined and slept. 

April 28. — We embarked after breakfast in the yacht to go to Bassein, for- 
merly a fortified Portuguese town, in Arungabad, which was taken by the Ma- 
harattas about the middle of the last century, and 'since ceded to the English. 
When we arrived under its walls, we found our palanqueens were not come; 
and, as the water-gate was shut, we set off to walk to the opposite side. We 
walked for nearly two miles, exposed to the noon-day sun, the heat increased 
by the reflection from the white walls, with the sand, ankle-deep, so hot as to 
be painful to our feet, while to the bare-footed natives it was absolutely insup- 
portable, and they fairly ran off. 

I do not think the ruins themselves repaid us for the trouble Ave had taken 
to see them, as, with the exception of a pagoda, with the sacred hull well carv- 



EXCURSION TO SALSETTE, 



141 



convenience to the natives, who bring vegetables to the Bombay 
market, but so narrow, and with so inconvenient an angle in its 
course, that many Europeans object to pass it in carriages. We 
went over, however, without scruple, as there is, under ordinary 
circumstances, no real danger. Some persons maintain that the 
construction of this causeway has done harm to the upper part of 
the harbour by diminishing its back-water. The thing is certainly 
possible, but I could not find any naval men who ascribed much 
weight to it. 

Beyond, the woody hills of Salsette rise very majestically ; and 
the road, which winds at their feet round the island, offers many 
points of view of uncommon beauty and interest. These roads 
are equal to the best in Europe, and are now receiving an addi- 
tional improvement by the adoption, though but an incomplete 
and misunderstood one, of M l Adam's system. In other respects 
the country is strangely unimproved, having no towns except 
Tannah and Gorabunder, (the first of which is indeed a neat and 
flourishing place, — the other not much better than a poor village,) 
very little cultivation, except the tara-palm and coco-nut, which 
grow almost spontaneously amid the jungle, and displaying in the 
cottages of its peasantry a degree of poverty and rudeness which 
I had seen no where in India except among the Bheels. Notwith- 
standing, indeed, its vicinity to the seat of government, no small 
proportion of its inhabitants are at this day in a state as wild as 
the wildest Bheels, and their customs and manners as little known 
as those of the Goonds in Central India. These are the burners 
of charcoal, an occupation exercised by a peculiar caste, who 
dwell entirely in the woods, have neither intermarriage nor in- 
tercourse with the Hindoo inhabitants of the plain, and bring 
down their loads of charcoal to particular spots, whence it is car- 
ried away by these last, who deposit in its place a payment set- 
tled by custom, of rice, clothing, and iron tools. This is the ac- 
count given me by Mr. Elphinstone, the governor of Bombay, who 
has made several attempts to become better acquainted with this 
unfortunate tribe, but has only very imperfectly succeeded, owing 

ed at its entrance, they were all in the style of conventual architecture com- 
mon in the early part of the seventeenth century ; but I was much struck, on 
entering the massive and well-guarded gate, with the scene of utter desolation 
which presented itself; it reminded me of some story of enchantment which I 
had read in my childhood, and I could almost have expected to see the shades 
of its original inhabitants flitting about among the jungle, which now grows in 
melancholy luxuriance in the courts and areas of churches, convents, and 
houses. We none of us suffered from the fatigue and heat, another convincing 
proof of the innoxious effects of the sun here as compared with Bengal. On 
our return to Gorabunder, we found all things ready for our journey to Bom- 
bay, where we arrived late at night, much interested and gratified by all we 
had seen and done. Extract from the Editor's Journal. 



142 



EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 



to their excessive shyness, and the contempt in which they are held 
by their Hindoo neighbours. 1 have felt much anxiety to learn 
more, under an idea, that among such a race as these the esta- 
blishment of schools, and a missionary, would, at least, meet with 
no opposition. But I have been unsuccessful in my enquiries, 
and where Mr. Elphinstone, with his extraordinary talents and 
great opportunities had learned so little, I was not likely to suc- 
ceed better. 

This neglected and uncivilized state of Salsette is the more re- 
markable, not only because the neighbourhood of Bombay, and 
the excessive price of provisions there, would seem to lead to the 
cultivation of every inch of ground, but because the numerous 
ruins of handsome churches and houses remaining from the old 
Portuguese settlements, prove, no less than the accounts of the 
island by Fryer and Delia Valle, that, in their time, and under 
their government, a very different face of things was presented. 
The original ruin of the country, would, no doubt, naturally fol- 
low its conquest from the Portuguese by the Maharattas. But, 
as thirty years and upwards have passed since the Maharattas 
ceded it to us, it seems strange that a country which, as Mr. El- 
phinstone assured me, is neither sterile nor unwholesome, should 
remain so little improved. The population, however, poor as 
it is, and chiefly occupied in fishing, amounts to 50,000, a number 
which might be trebled if cultivation were extended at any thing 
like the rate which it has been done in Bengal. But Salsette 
se ( ems a spot where, of all others, European colonization would 
be most harmless and beneficial. It has, however, been attempted 
in two instances only, and, to be successful, seems to require a 
more advantageous and permanent tenure than the company have 
yet been induced to grant of their lands, and, perhaps, a freer 
trade in sugar than the present colonial system of England allows 
to her eastern empire. 

Tannah is chiefly inhabited by Roman Catholic Christians, 
either converted Hindoos or Portuguese, who have become as 
black as the natives, and assumed all their habits. Tt has, also, a 
considerable cantonment of British troops, a collector and magis- 
trate, for whose use a very neat Church was building when I first 
visited it There is a small but regular fortress, from which, 
during the late Maharatta war, Trimbuckgee escaped in the 
manner I have elsewhere related. Tannah, as I afterwards learn- 
ed from a Parsee innkeeper at Panwellee, is also famous for its 
breed of hogs, and the manner in which its Portuguese inhabi- 
tants cure bacon. It receives a monthly visit from the Chaplain 
stationed at Matoonga, the head-quarters of the artillery in the 
island of Bombay. 

At Gorabunder is a small but handsome building, nearly in 



EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 



143 



the form of a Church, with a nave leading to a circular chancel, 
covered with a high cupola, and surrounded by a verandah. The 
whole is arched with stone, and very solidly built. It is generally 
regarded as having been a Portuguese Church, but has not been 
used as such in the memory of man, and differs from most other 
Churches, in having its entrance at the East instead of the West 
end. It is now used as an occasional residence for the Governor 
and his friends, and is, in fact, a very cool and convenient house 
for this climate, and commands a magnificent view. 

About fifteen miles from Gorabunder, on the main land, is the 
city of Bassein, once a celebrated colony of the Portuguese, 
taken from them by the Maharattas, and lost by them to the 
English. It is of considerable size, and surrounded by a regular 
fortification of rampart and bastions, but without a glacis, which 
from the marshy nature of the surrounding country, was, perhaps, 
thought needless. There is a small guard stationed in one of the 
gates, under an English conductor of ordnance, and the place is 
kept locked up, but is within perfectly uninhabited, and containing 
nothing but a single small pagoda in good repair, and a melan- 
choly display of ruined houses and Churches. Of the latter 
there are no fewer than seven, some of considerable size, but all 
of mean architecture, though they are striking from the lofty pro- 
portions usual in Roman Catholic places of worship, and from 
the singularity of Christian and European ruins in India. The 
largest of these Churches, I was assured by a Maharatta of rank, 
a protege of Mr. Elphinstone's who accompanied us, was built 
by a man who had made a large fortune by selling slippers. It 
contains no inscription, that I could see, to confirm or invalidate 
this testimony, nor any date whatever, but one on a monument 
to a certain Donna Maria de Souza, of 1606. 

The Portuguese Churches in this place and Salsette, are all 
in a paltry style enough, of Grecian mixed with Gothic. In 
Bassein they have tower-steeples without spires, in Salsette the 
small arched pediment to hang the bell which is usual in Wales. 
Their roofs, where they remain, are very steep and covered with 
tiles, and one of those in Bassein, which appears to have belong- 
ed to a house of Jesuits, has the remains of a handsome coved 
ceiling of teak, carved and gilded. They are melancholy objects 
to look at, but they are monuments, nevertheless, of departed 
greatness, of a love of splendour far superior to the anxiety for 
amassing money by which other nations have been chiefly ac- 
tuated, and of a zeal for God which, if not according to know- 
ledge, was a zeal still, and a sincere one. It was painful to me, 
at the time, to think, how few relics, if the, English were now 
expelled from India, would be left behind of their religion, their 
power, or their civil and military magnificence. Yet on this side 



/ 



144 BUDDHIST TEMPLE. 

of India there is really more zeal and liberality displayed in the 
improvement of the country, the construction of roads and pub- 
lic buildings, the conciliation of the natives and their education, 
than I have yet seen in Bengal. Mr. Elphinstone is evidently 
anxious to do all in his power to effect these objects. 

The principal curiosities of Salsette, and those which were 
our main object in this little tour, are the cave temples of Ken- 
nery. These are, certainly, in every way remarkable from their 
number, their beautiful situation, their elaborate carving, and 
their marked connexion with Buddha and his religion. The 
caves are scattered over two sides of a high rocky hill, at many 
different elevations, and of various sizes and forms. Most of 
them appear to have been places of habitation for monks or her- 
mits. One very beautiful apartment of a square form, its walls 
covered with sculpture, and surrounded internally by a broad 
stone bench, is called "the durbar," but I should rather guess had 
been a school. Many have deep and well-carved cisterns attach- 
ed to them, which, even in this dry season, were well supplied 
with water. The largest and most remarkable of all is a Budd- 
hist temple, of great beauty and majesty, and which even in its 
present state would make a very stately and convenient place of 
Christian worship. It is entered through a fine and lofty portico, 
having on its front, but a little to the left-hand, a high detached 
octagonal pillar, surmounted by three lions seated back to back. 
On the East side of the portico is a colossal statue of Buddha, 
with his hands raised in the attitude of benediction, and the 
screen which separates the vestibule from the temple is covered, 
immediately above the dodo, with a row of male and female 
figures, nearly naked, but not indecent, and carved with consi- 
derable spirit, which apparently represent dancers. In the cen- 
tre is a large door, and, above it, three windows contained in a 
semicircular arch, so like those which are seen over the entrance 
of Italian Churches, that I fully supposed them to be an addition 
to the original plan by the Portuguese, who are said, I know not 
on what ground, to have used this cave as a Church, till I found 
a similar and still more striking window of the same kind in the 
great cave of Carlee. Within, the apartment is, I should con- 
ceive, fifty feet long by twenty, an oblong square terminated by 
a semicircle, and surrounded on every side, but that of the en- 
trance, with a colonnade of octagonal pillars. Of these the 
twelve on each side nearest the entrance are ornamented with 
carved bases and capitals, in the style usual in Indian temples. 
The rest are unfinished. 

In the centre of the semicircle, and with a free walk all round 
it, is a mass of rock left solid, but carved externally like a dome, 
and so as to bear a strong general likeness to our Saviour's 



BUDDHIST TEMPLES. I45 

sepulchre, as it is now chisled away and enclosed in St. Helena's 
Church at Jerusalem. On the top of the dome is a sort of spread- 
ing ornament like the capital of a column. It is, apparently, 
intended to support something, and I was afterwards told at Car- 
lee, where such an ornament, but of greater size, is also found, 
that a large gilt umbrella used to spring from it. This solid dome 
appears to be the usual symbol of Buddhist adoration, and, with 
its umbrella ornament, may be traced in the Shoo-Madoo of Pegu, 
and other more remote structures of the same faith. Though it 
is different in its form and style of ornament from the lingam, I 
cannot help thinking it has been originally intended to represent 
the same popular object of that almost universal idolatry, which 
Scripture, with good reason, describes as " uncleanness and 
abomination. 11 

The ceiling of this cave is arched semicircularly, and orna- 
mented, in a very singular manner, with slender ribs of teak-wood 
of the same curve with the roof, and disposed as if they were sup- 
porting it, which, however, it does not require, nor are they strong 
enough to answer the purpose. Their use may have been to 
hang lamps or flowers from in solemn rejoicings. My companions 
in this visit, who shewed themselves a little jealous of the anti- 
quity of these remains, and of my inclination to detract from it, 
would have had me suppose that these two were additions by the 
Portuguese. But there are similar ribs at Carlee where the Por- 
tuguese never were. They cannot be very old, and though they 
certainly may have been added or renewed since the building was 
first constructed, they must, at all events, refer to a time when it 
and the forms of its worship were held in honour. The question 
will remain, how late or how early the Buddhists ceased to be 
rich and powerful in Western India ? or when, if ever, the follow- 
ers of the Brahminical creed were likely to pay honour to Bud- 
dhist symbols of the Deity ? 

The latter question is at variance with all usual opinions as to 
the difference between these sects and the animosity which has 
ever prevailed betwixt them. But I have been very forcibly struck 
by the apparent identity of the Buddhist chattah and the Brahmi- 
nicial lingam. The very name of the great temple of Ava, " Shoo 
Madoo, 11 w Golden Maha-Deo, 11 seems to imply a greater approxi- 
mation than is generally supposed, and above all, a few weeks af- 
terwards, I found the cave of Carlee in the keeping of Brahmins, 
and honoured by them as a temple of Maha-Deo. All this seems 
to prove that we know very little indeed of the religious history 
of India, that little or no credit can be given to the accounts con- 
tained in the Brahminical writings, and that these accounts, even 
if true, may refer to, comparatively, a small part of India, while 
whatever is the date of these illustrious caverns, (and Kennery I 



146 



EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 



really should guess to be older than Elephanta) no stress can be 
laid either way on their identity or discrepancy with the modern 
superstition of the country, or the alleged neglect of the natives. 
On one of the pillars of the portico of the great cave at Kennery 
is an inscription in a character different both from the Nagree and 
the popular running hand which, more than Nagree, prevails with 
the Maharattas. 

There are many similar instances in different parts of India of 
inscriptions in characters now unintelligible; nor will any one 
who knows how exceedingly incurious the Brahmins are on all 
such subjects wonder that they are not able to assist Europeans 
in decyphering them. But it would be a very useful, and by no 
means a difficult task, to collect copies of some of the most re- 
markable, and compare them with each other ; since we should 
thus, at least, ascertain whether one or many characters prevailed 
in India before the use of the present alphabets ; and, in the first 
case, from the knowledge of the date of some few buildings, where 
this character is found, be able to guess that of others whose his- 
tory is unknown. The inscription of Pertaubghur, that on the 
column of Firoze Shah at Delhi, and on the similar column at 
Koottab-sahib might thus be collated, with, probably, many 
others as yet unknown to me, and the result might tell something 
more than we yet know respecting the antiquities of this great 
and interesting country. 

In Mr. Elphinstone^s party on this occasion was a French offi- 
cer, the chevalier Rienzi, (a descendant of the celebrated tribune, 
the friend of Petrarch,) who was just arrived from a journey 
through a considerable part of Egypt and Abyssinia. I was anx- 
ious to know what degree of likeness and what comparative merit 
he discovered between these caves and those of Thebes, &c. He 
said that the likeness between Kennery and the Egyptian caves 
was very slight and general, and in point of beauty very greatly 
preferred these last. He had not, however, seen Elephanta. 

There is a very fine view from the brow of the cliff above 
Kennery, of which my wife made an accurate drawing. We saw 
many monkeys in the woods, and some beautiful lizards, with a 
bright red crest like that of a cock. I also thought I heard par- 
tridges calling. Tygers are found in these woods, but seldom at- 
tack people where there are many together, or between sunrise 
and sunset. 

The heat was very great during this excursion, but Ave had suf- 
ficient proof either that the sun, at its greatest strength, is not so 
dangerous here as in Bengal, or else that more precautions are 
commonly used against it in Calcutta than is absolutely necessary. 
On the morning of the 27th, not only all the men in the party, but 
my wife and Mrs. Macdonald rode from our encampment to Tan- 



BUNGALOWS. 



147 



nah, seven or eight miles, at a brisk pace, and along a dusty and 
unsheltered road, without any inconvenience that I heard of: and 
at Bassein on the 28th, at the hottest part of the day and the year, 
we were all of us walking about round the town and amid the 
ruins for nearly two hours without even umbrellas. It is possible 
that in Bengal people are sometimes needlessly afraid of the sun. 
But there really should seem to be something in the refraction of 
the soil, the abundance of moisture, or some similar cause which 
renders the heat in Bengal, though not more intense, yet to use an 
expression of an old Indian, more venomous than in most other 
parts of India. 

There are cave temples of the same kind with those of Kennery, 
but smaller and less interesting, at Mompezier and Ambowlee. 
We passed these places in our return, but we had, as it unfortu- 
nately happened, no time to stop, being obliged to return home 
for the ensuing Sunday. Having seen the best, we felt, indeed, 
no great anxiety to give ourselves any inconvenient troubles about 
the worse. We returned to Bombay by the ferry of Mahim, a 
large and very populous though meanly built town, overhung by 
a profusion of palm-trees. 

The bungalows on the esplanade of Bombay are all temporary 
buildings, and removed as soon as the rains begin to fall.* We 

* At the commencement of the hot season, those Europeans who are obliged 
by business, or other circumstances, to have their principal residences within 
the fort, erect bungalows on the adjoining esplanade, which arc, many of them, 
remarkably elegant buildings, but quite unfit to resist the violence of the mon- 
soon. On its approach their inhabitants return into the fort, tfle bungalows 
are taken down and preserved for another year, and their place is, in a very 
short time, occupied by a sheet of water. The esplanade is on the sea beach, 
with the black town at its furthest end, amidst a grove of coco-trees. This 
town stretches across the whole end of the island, and makes the communica- 
tion between the fort and the interior unpleasant, from the heat and dust of its 
narrow streets. The houses within the fort are of a singular construction, and 
quite unlike any in the East of India, being generally of three or four stories 
high, with wooden verandahs, supported by wooden pillars, projecting one 
above another ; — these pillars, as well as the fronts of the verandahs, are often 
very beautifully carved, but the streets are so narrow that it is impossible to 
have a complete view of them. The prospect from some parts of the fort is 
extremely beautiful, looking across the bay, over islands, many of them covered 
with wood, to the Ghats, which form a magnificent back-ground to the pic- 
ture. A great number of Parsees live within the walls ; they are a frugal and 
industrious race, who possess a considerable part of the island, and are part- 
ners in almost all the commercial houses, as well as great ship-builders and 
ship-owners. The "Lowjee Family," a large vessel of 1,000 tons, in which I 
came from Calcutta, belongs to a family of that name, whose head has an ex- 
cellent house near Pareil. In our early and late rides I have been interested 
in observing these men on the shore, with their faces turned towards the East 
or West, worshipping the rising and setting sun, frequently standing within 
the surge, their hands joined, and praying aloud with much apparent devotion, 
though, to my astonishment, I was assured, in a language unintelligible to 
themselves ; others are to be seen prostrate on the ground, devoutly rubbing 
Vol. II.— -19 



148 



GOVERNMENT RESIDENCIES. 



were, accordingly, driven from ours on Saturday the 4th of June, 
and most hospitably received as guests by Mr. Elphinstone in the 
government house at Pareil. 

There are three government residencies in the island of Bom- 
bay. The one within the walls of the fort, though large and con- 
venient, is little used except for holding councils, public Durbars, 
and the dispatch of business. It is a spacious dismal -looking build- 
ing, like many of the other large houses in Bombay, looking like 
a Stadthaus in a German free city. At Malabar-point, about eight 
miles from the town, is a very pretty cottage, in a beautiful situa- 
tion on a rocky and woody promontory, and actually washed by 
the sea-spray, where Mr. Elphinstone chiefly resides during the 
hot weather.* The third and principal is Pareil, about six miles 

their noses and foreheads in the sand ; they worship the four elements, but 
give the pre-eminence to fire. Their principal temple is in the centre of the 
black town, where the everlasting fire is preserved by the priests. I never ob- 
served their women at prayer, but they are hourly to be seen mixed with Hin- 
doos and Musselmans, in crowds surrounding the wells on the esplanade, 
(which Mr. Elphinstone had sunk at the commencement of the drought, but 
which in this severe scarcity hardly supply the population with water) and 
scrambling for their turn to fill the pitcher and the skin. In this respect there 
is a remarkable difference between the customs of the Bombay women and 
those of their Bengalee sisterhood, who are seldom seen drawing water for any 
purposes. The principal Parsee burial-ground is on an eminence near the 
coast. I met a funeral procession in one of my rides, just on the point of as- 
cending it, which had a singular effect among the trees and jungle ; the body 
was laid on a bier, covered with a white cloth, and carried by six men clothed 
in long white garments, and closely veiled ; it was preceded and followed by 
a number of persons in the same costume, walking two and two, each pair 
linked together with a white handkerchief. They object to any Europeans 
approaching their burial-ground ; indeed, in former times, Mr. Elphinstone 
told me, a Giaour found within their precincts was liable to be expelled the 
island. But a friend of ours, who contrived to gain access to it, gave me the 
following description of one of them. A deep well, of very large diameter, 
is sunk in the hill, the sides are built round near the surface, and partitioned 
into three different receptacles, for men, women, and children ; on ledges within 
these partitions the bodies are placed, and left exposed to the vultures, who are 
always hovering in the neighbourhood, while the friends anxiously wait at 
some distance to ascertain which eye is first torn out, inferring from thence 
whether the souls are happy or miserable. When the flesh is consumed, the 
bones are thrown down the well, into which subterranean passages lead, for the 
purpose of removing them when it becomes too full. The Christian Church-yard, 
the Mussulman burial-ground, the place where the Hindoos burn their dead, 
and the Parsee vault, are all within a short distance of each other. — Extract 
from Editor's Journal. 

* From Mr. Elphinstone's house there is a magnificent view of the town and 
harbour ; and at the extremity of this promontory, in a part of the rock which 
it is difficult to approach, are the remains of a pagoda, and a hole, famous as a 
place of resort for Hindoo devotees, who believe that on entering it they are 
purified from all their sins, and come out regenerate. The western side of 
the promontory is considered as one of the healthiest situations in Bombay, 
and there are several European houses on the beach ; there is also a beautiful 
village, almost solely inhabited by Brahmins, with a very fine tank in its cen- 
tre, and some magnificent flights of steps leading to the water. These people 



SUMATRA APE. 



149 



from Bombay, at a short distance from the eastern shore of the 
island. The interior of the house is very handsome, having a fine 
stair-case, and two noble rooms, one over the other, of 75 or 80 
feet long, very handsomely furnished. The lower of these, which 
is the dining-room, is said to have been an old and desecrated 
church belonging to a jesuit college, which had fallen into the 
hands of a Parsee from whom it was purchased by government 
about sixty years ago. 

Behind the house is a moderate-sized, old-fashioned garden, in 
which (it may be some time or other interesting to recollect) is 
planted a slip of the willow which grows on Buonaparte's grave. 
Adjoining is a small paddock, or rather yard, full of different kinds 
of deer, who are fed, like sheep, by hand, and another little yard 
containing some wild animals, of which the most interesting are 
a noble wild ass from Cutch, and a very singular ape from Suma- 
tra. The former is about as high as a well-grown galloway, a 
beautiful animal, admirably formed for fleetness and power, appa- 
rently very gentle and very fond of horses, and by no means dis- 
liked by them, in which respect the asses of India differ from all 
others of which I have heard ; the same fact has been told me of 
the wild ass in Rajpootana. No attempt has, however, been made 
to break him in for riding, and it is, doubtless, now too late. Mr. 
Elphinstone said that he had never heard of any thing of the sort 
being tried by the natives, though they are much in the habit of 
mounting different animals, such as stags, &c. 

The ape is a very curious animal, answering, so far as I can re- 
collect, exactly to the account given of the " pigmy," or small 
ouran outang, brought from Africa to Europe about the beginning 
of the last century, of whose habits, exterior, and dissection after 
death, a particular account is given in the old French Compendium 
called " Le Spectacle de la Nature." It is a female, and appa- 
rently young, about three feet high, and very strong, stands erect 
with ease and as if naturally, but in walking or running soon re- 
curs to the use of all four hands or feet It has a very large head 
and prominent belly, has but little hair on its body, and a flat and 
broad face. Its arms are longer than the human proportion, but, 
in other respects, strikingly like the human arm, and as well as 
the legs furnished with calves, or whatever else, in the case of 
arms, those swelling muscles may be termed. It is of a gentle and 
lazy disposition, fond of its keeper and quiet with every body ex- 
cept when teazed ; when made to climb a tree ascends no higher 
than it is urged to go, and when turned loose in the most distant 

seem to enjoy the beau ideal of Hindoo luxury, occupied only in the ceremo- 
nies of their religion, and passing the rest of their lives in silent contemplation, 
as they would themselves assert, but, as I should rather express it, in sleeping 
and smoking. — Extract from Editor's Journal. 



150 



MAHIM. 



part of the garden makes no use of its liberty except to run as fast 
as its four legs will carry it to its cage again. The natives make a 
marked distinction between this animal and their usual large ba- 
boon, calling it not " lungoor," but " junglee admee," " wild man." 
They evidently regard it as a great curiosity, and, I apprehend, it 
owes something of its corpulency to their presents of fruit.* 

The monsoon, which began with violence, was interrupted by 
above a fortnight's dry weather, to the great alarm of the natives, 
who having had two years of drought, now began to fear a third, 
and a consequent famine with all its full extent of horrors. Seve- 
ral inauspicious prophecies (most popular prophecies are of evil) 
were propagated, with the pretended facts " that two years 

* About half-a-mile from the house, and following, on one side, the course of 
the sea, is a very extensive wood, principally of coco-trees, through which the 
road runs for about three miles, to the town and ferry of Mahim. This wood 
is thickty inhabited by a people of all religions; but the Portuguese Christians, 
who perfectly resemble the natives in dress and appearance, seem to be the most 
numerous ; and the circumstance of there being here the ruins of a College, as 
well as a church, with the Priest's house attached to it, would prove it to have 
been the principal settlement on the island. There are also several Hindoo and 
Mussulman mosques and pagodas. The wood is so intersected by roads and 
paths, with but few objects to serve as land-marks, that a stranger would have 
much difficulty in finding his way out of the labyrinth of trees and huts. 

The town of Mahim is ill-built, but it has a fort, a Catholic church, and other 
monuments of former prosperity. The priests are, for the most part, educated 
at Goa, and Mr. Elphinstone says, are, occasionally, well-informed men. The 
adjoining ferry we crossed on our return from the excursion to Salsette ; a 
causeway is built half-way over the frith, from whence a raft conveys carriages 
and passengers to Mahim. We had, on that occasion, a curious specimen of 
the perfect apathy and helplessness of the natives, which is worth notice. 
There were five carriages to cross the ferry, each of which required above half- 
an-hour for transportation. When the tide is in, the causeway is quite over- 
flowed ; a circumstance of which we were not aware, and allowed ourselves to 
be driven to its oxtremity, there to wait while the carriages that preceded us 
were ferried, over. The coachman and horse-keepers, (by which name the 
saees is known here,) unharnessed the horses, took the pole out of the carriage, 
and then sat down with perfect unconcern to wait their turn for embarking. 
We walked for some time up and down the causeway, till we became aware 
that our space was much contracted, and that the road behind us was, in parts, 
covered with water. We questioned the servants, (natives of the island,) but 
they were as ignorant as ourselves of the height to which the tide usually rose, 
and seemed quite indifferent on the subject. We now began to think our sit- 
uation rather precarious, and determined on returning while it was in our 
power, instead of waiting for the raft. But this was not the work of a mo- 
ment, as the width of the causeway only allowed of the carriage being turned 
by men, and by the time it was accomplished, and the horses harnessed, the 
water had risen as high as the doors. The scene was beautiful and wild ; it 
was night, the glorious moon and stars shining over-head, and reflected witli 
brilliancy in the still waters, in the middle of which we appeared to stand, with- 
out any visible means of escape. A canoe, just large enough to hold us, at 
this moment came up, and we were rowed with extraordinary swiftness to 
shore, leaving the carriage to follow, which it did in perfect safety. If the 
night had been stormy our situation might have been one of danger. — Extract 
from Editor's Journal. 



MONSOON— JOURNEY TO THE DECKAN. 



151 



drought had never occurred in India except they were followed 
by a third that "the same winds were said by the Arab traders 
to prevail in the Red Sea this year as had prevailed the two last, 
and as always prevailed there when the monsoon failed in this 
country." At length the clouds again thickened ; and the rain 
came on with heavy gales and in abundant quantities, so that the 
intermission which had occurred was reckoned highly advantage- 
ous, in having given more time to the peasants to get their rice 
sown and transplanted. The rain I thought heavier and more 
continuous than any thing which I had seen in Calcutta, but un- 
accompanied by the violent north-westers, and terrific thunder 
and lightening which prevail at this season in Bengal. Here, 
as there, a great change for the better takes place in the tempera- 
ture of the air ; and heavy as the rains are, few days occur in 
which one may not enjoy a ride either early in the morning, or 
in the afternoon. The frogs are as large, as numerous, and as 
noisy here as in the neighbourhood of Calcutta. 

Though I had heard much of the extreme humidity of the cli- 
mate of Bombay, I do not think that my experience justified this 
character ; or that our papers, books, or steel, either moulded or 
rusted so fast as in Bengal. The soil is, indeed, rocky and shal- 
low ; and though the rice-grounds here, as elsewhere, are mere 
washes during the whole seed-time, I do not think the water either 
spreads so widely, or lies so long, as in the neighbourhood of the 
Ganges. 

June 27. — I set out to-day, accompanied by Archdeacon Barnes, 
on a journey into the Deckan. Having sent off our horses and 
servants the proceeding morning, we embarked in a small boat 
with latine sails, and stood across the arm of the sea which di- 
vides Bombay from the continent. We went N. E. with a fine 
breeze, a distance of 20 or 22 miles, passing Butcher's Island and 
Elephanta to our left, and in about four hours arrived in a small 
river on which stands the town of Panwellee. Its bed is much 
choked with rocks ; and, being a little too early for the tide, we 
were delayed and found some difficulty in our progress, and were 
at length obliged to go on shore in a small canoe, the narrowest 
which 1 had yet seen, and cut out of a single tree. This landed 
us on a pretty good stone pier, beyond which we found a small- 
sized country town, with a pagoda, a handsome tomb of a Mus- 
sulman saint, and a pretty quiet view of surrounding hills and 
woods. We found a comfortable bungalow, built and kept up 
by government, for the accommodation of travellers, and two 
taverns, one kept by a Portuguese, the other by a Parsee, the 
latter of whom, at a very short notice, procured us a dinner, at 
least, as well got up, as cleanly, and as good, as could have been 
expected at a country inn in England. 



152 



ASCENT OF THE GHATS. 



After dinner we set out in palanqeens, in heavy rain, which 
lasted all night, and went twelve miles to Chowkee, where we 
found another government bungalow, and another decent Parsee 
tavern, at the latter of which we remained some hours, while our 
bearers rested, so as to enable them to carry us on the next stage. 
No such thing as a regular Dak establishment (such as in Bengal 
enables travellers to find, at a short notice, and a moderate ex- 
pense, bearers ready placed in all the villages where there are 
post-offices,) exists in this part of India. Bearers are only pro- 
cured in large towns ; and in order to obtain their services at in- 
tervening stations, they must be brought from these towns, at 
considerable expense, and often from a considerable distance. 
In consequence it becomes a necessary part of economy to en- 
gage one set of bearers to go as far as they can, and enable them 
to do so by halts of this kind, which the institution of bungalows 
renders much less inconvenient than it would be in the north. 
The Parsee tavern-keeper of Chowkee furnished us with tea, 
and sofas, which serve very well as beds on occasion. 

At two o'clock in the morning we again setoff, and, after some 
delay and difficulty in fording rivers, arrived about six at a very 
pretty village, named Capoolee, with a fine tank, and temple of 
Mahadeo, built by the celebrated Maharatta minister Nana Fur- 
naveez. The road all the way was excellent, made at a great 
expense, more than sufficiently wide, and well raised above the 
low swampy level of the Concan. The journey was to me, 
however, sufficiently unpleasant. I cannot sleep in a palan- 
queen, — the rain beat in through the front blinds, which could 
never be perfectly closed, and thrdugl} the side-doors, which I 
was obliged to open occasionally for wint of air ; and the weari- 
some darkness of the night, and the dismal grunting of my bearers, 
who, as a matter of custom, rather than from any inability to 
bear their burthen, trot on with much the same sort of noise, but 
deeper and more plaintive, which the paviors make in England, 
—made me renew an old resolution, to have, in future, as little 
to do with palanqueens as possible, at least in the night time. 

From Capoolee, though it was still raining, I walked up the 
Bhor Ghat, four miles and a half, to Candaulah, the road still 
broad and good, but the ascent very steep, so much so, indeed 
that a loaded carriage, or even a palanqueen with any body in it, 
could with great difficulty be forced along it. In fact, every one 
either walks or rides up the hills, and all merchandise is convey- 
ed on bullocks or horses. The ascent might, I think, have been 
rendered, by an able engineer, much more easy. But to have 
carried a road over these hills at all, considering how short a time 
they have been in our power, is highly creditable to the Bombay 
government; and the road, as it now stands, and with all its 



WATERFALL AT CANDAULAH. 



153 



inconveniencies, is probably sufficient for the intercourse which 
either is, or is likely to be, between the Concan and the Deckan. 

The views offered from different parts of this ascent are very 
beautiful, and much reminded me of some parts of the Vale of 
Corvven. The mountains are nearly the same height (from 2000 
to 3000 feet above the level of the sea,) with the average of Welch 
mountains ; and the freshness and verdure which clothes them 
during the rains, as well as the fleecy clouds continually sweeping 
over them, increased their likeness to the green dells and moist 
climate of Gwyneth. In one respect, and only one, the Ghats 
have the advantage, — their precipices are higher, and the outline 
of the hills consequently bolder. That outline, indeed, is remarka- 
ble, consisting, in by far the majority of instances, of a plane table 
summit, or else a long horizontal ridge, supported by sides as steep 
and regular as if artificially scarped, with natural terraces at un- 
certain heights, each with its own precipice, affording a striking 
specimen of what is called the trap formation. There is a good 
deal of forest timber on the sides of these hills, and the gorges of 
the valleys are thickly wooded. The trees, however, are not, 
singly taken, of any great size, either here or in the Deckan, or 
in Bombay, a circumstance in which these countries seem re- 
markably contrasted with Guzerat, and the greater part of north- 
ern India. 

Near Candaulah is a waterfall, which flows all the year, and 
at this season is very full and beautiful. It falls in three or four 
successive descents down one of the highest precipices I ever saw, 
not less, I should apprehend, than 1200 feet, into a valley of very 
awful depth and gloom, down which its stream winds to join the 
sea, nearly opposite to Tannah, under the name of the Callianee 
river. On a knoll above this waterfall, and close to the great pre- 
cipice, Mr. Elphinstone has a small house, where he passes a part 
of each cold season. I saw it only from a distance, but should 
suppose it to be a delightful residence. 

Candaulah is a poor village, but with a tolerable bazar, and, 
besides the government bungalow for travellers, which is mean 
and ill-contrived, has a tavern, kept by a Portuguese, consisting 
of one waste room, like a barn, with an inscription in broken En- 
glish over the door, announcing that " at the Hotel of the Santa 
Anunciation, all nexeary victuals may be prquired." 

In ascending the Ghats to Candaulah, I was met by six armed 
horsemen, part of an escort obligingly sent me by Mr. Chaplin, 
the commissioner in the Deckan. This is now more a mark of 
respect, and calculated to conciliate the respect of the natives, 
than a measure of any real necessity on this road. The popula- 
tion, however, of these mountains used, at no long time ago, to be 
frequently troublesome and dangerous to passengers, and still, 



154 



CAVERN AT CARLEE. 



sometimes indulge in their old habits towards native travellers, 
though with Europeans they seldom if ever venture to meddle. 
They are of the same caste and family of people with the Coolies 
of Guzerat, and call themselves by that name. They are, how- 
ever, less tall and robust than those hardy barbarians, and seem a 
link between them and the Bheels. The Bheels themselves are 
not found farther south than the neighbourhood of Damaun ; and 
on the hills which overhang the southern Concan, a tribe of nearly 
similar habits but different language, the Canars, takes the place 
of the Coolies. The plain country, both of the Concans and the 
more elevated level of the Deckan, is inhabited by Maharattas, a 
peaceable and industrious race, among whom there should seem 
to be fe wer remarkable crimes against society than, with a similar 
population, is found in most parts of India. The horsemen who 
were sent to me were natives of Hindostan, in the service of the 
police. They had been originally in Colonel Skinner's Gorps, wore 
its uniform, and appeared much delighted to find that I knew all 
about their old commander, and had been, myself, at Delhi. 

The cottages both in the Concan and in the Deckan are small 
and mean, with steep thatched roofs, and very low side walls of 
loose stones, and there is a general appearance of poverty both in 
the dress and farming-implements of the people. Their cattle, 
however, are of a larger and better breed than those of Bengal ; 
and notwithstanding the long drought, were, when I saw them, in 
better case than I could have expected. 

In the afternoon of this day, (the 28th,) I rode on horseback, 
accompanied by Dr. Barnes, the stage between Candaulah and 
Carlee, diverging from the road about a mile to visit the celebra- 
ted cavern which takes its name from this last place, and which 
is hewn on the face of a precipice about two-thirds up the side of 
a steep hill, rising with a very scarped and regular talus, to the 
height of, probably, 800 feet above the plain. The excavations 
consist, besides the principal temple, of many smaller apartments 
and galleries, in two stories, some of them ornamented with great 
beauty, and evidently intended, like those at Kennery, for the 
lodging of monks or hermits. The temple itself is on the same 
general plan as that of Kennery, but half as large again, and far 
finer and richer. It is approached by a steep and narrow path, 
winding up the side of the hill, among trees and brushwood, and 
fragments of rock. This brought us to a mean and ruinous tem- 
ple of Siva, which serves as a sort of gateway to the cave ; a simi- 
lar small building stands on the right hand of its portico, and we 
were immediately surrounded by some naked and idle brahmin 
boys, who, with an old woman of the same caste, called them- 
selves the keepers of the sanctuary, and offered their services to 
shew its wonders, and tell its history. I asked them who was its 



CAVERN AT CARLEE. 



155 



founder, and they answered, " King Pandoo," who is, indeed, as 
Mr. Elphintone afterwards told me, the reputed architect of all 
these cave temples, and in general, like our Arthur, of all ancient 
monuments whose real history is unknown. King Pandoo and his 
four brethren are the principal heroes of the celebrated Hindoo 
romance of the Mahabharat, and the apparent identity of his name 
with that, of the " Pandion" of whose territories in India the 
Greeks heard so much, is too remarkable to be passed unnoticed. 

The approach to the temple is, like that at Kennery, under a 
noble arch, rilled up with a sort of portico screen, in two stories 
of three intercolumniations below, and five above. In the front, 
but a little to the left, is the same kind of pillar as is seen at Ken- 
nery, though of larger dimensions, surmounted by three lions back 
to back. Within the portico, to the right and left, are three col- 
ossal figures, in alto relievo, of elephants, their faces looking to- 
wards the person who arrives in the portico, and their heads, tusks, 
and trunks, very boldly projecting from the wall. On each of 
them is a mohout very well carved, and a howdah with two per- 
sons seated in it. The internal screen, on each side of the door, 
is covered, as at Kennery, with alto relievos, very bold and some- 
what larger than life, of naked male and female figures. I asked 
our young guides what deities these represented, and was surprised 
to hear from them in answer, 44 These are not Gods, one God is 
sufficient ; these are viragees" (religious enthusiasts or attendants 
on the Deity.) On asking, however, if their God was the same 
whom they worshipped in the little temple before the steps, and 
if he were Maha Deo, they answered in the affirmative, so that 
their Deism merely extended to paying worship to a single idol 
only. There is, certainly, however, no image either of Buddha 
or any other mythological personage about this cavern, nor any vi- 
sible object of devotion, except the mystic chattah, or umbrella, 
already mentioned at Kennery. 

The details of the cave within having been already more than 
once published, and as, in its general arrangement, it closely an- 
swers to Kennery, I will only observe, that both in dimensions 
and execution it is much nobler and more elaborate ; and that the 
capitals of the columns (all of them at least which are not hidden 
by the chattah at the East end) are very singular and beautiful. 
Each consists of a large cap, like a bell, finely carved, and sur- 
mounted by two elephants with their trunks entwined, and each 
carrying two male and one female figure, which our guides again 
told us were viragees. 

The timber ribs which decorate the roof, whatever their use 
may have been, are very perfect, and have a good effect in the 
perspective of the interior, which is all extremely clean and in good 
repair, and would be, in fact, a very noble temple for any reli- 

Vol. II.— 20 



156 CARLEE. 

gion. On one side an old and faded dhoolie, with tattered and 
dirty curtains, fringes, and other marks of ancient splendour, was 
suspended. Our guides said it was the god's palanqueen, and 
was carried out on solemn occasions. I saw nothing in it now, 
and there was no image which could be put into it, so that I sup- 
pose it performs its procession empty. On asking where their 
" Deo" was, they pointed to some red paint on the front of the 
chattah. 

On returning to our horses, we found the brahmin of the next 
village, who called himself a Pundit, and said he had come on pur- 
pose to explain to me all the antiquities and mysteries of the 
" Dewal" or temple, but the evening was shutting in too fast to 
admit of our scrambling half a mile up a steep cliff, to examine 
the cave over again ; and, therefore, declining his civility, we rode 
across the plain to the village of Carlee, where our palanqueens 
were awaiting us. This plain is an unpromising mixture of 
rock and marsh, and even less cultivated than its unfavoura- 
ble soil might lead one to expect, considering it must always 
have been well off for water. Like all the Deckan which I 
have seen it is very bare of trees, and reminded me a good 
deal of some parts of Rajpootana, particularly the neighbour- 
hood of Nusseerabad. The road just finished by government is 
excellent and there is a bridge of, I think, thirteen arches, over 
some swampy ground near this place, of extremely solid and judi- 
cious, though simple architecture. 

I had another comfortless night's journey in my palanqueen, 
suffering a good deal from sleeplessness, and alternate fits of 
shivering and heat. We reached Mr. Chaplin's bungalow in 
Poonah cantonment, about four o'clock on the morning of the 29th, 
and I hoped that some hours' repose in an excellent bed, would 
set me up again. I was mistaken, however, for in the following 
night I was attacked by dysentery, of which all these had, I sup- 
pose been the previous symptoms, and which kept me pretty 
closely confined during great part of my stay in Poonah. I was 
happy in being sufficiently recovered on Saturday, to administer 
confirmation to about forty persons, chiefly officers and privates 
of His Majesty's 20th regiment, and on Sunday to consecrate the 
Church, and preach a sermon to a numerous congregation. Mr. 
Chaplin, also, drove me one day round the cantonment, and on 
Monday I went on horeback to see the city and the Peishwah's 
palace. 

The city of Poonah stands in the centre of a very extensive 
plain elevated somewhere about 2000 feet above the sea, and 
surrounded by hills, of the trap formation, and with the singularly 
scarped forms peculiar to that style of mountain, from 1500 to 
2000 feet higher still. Many of these used, under the Maharatta 



POONAH. 



157 



government, to be crowned by hill-forts, for which their form 
remarkably qualifies them, but by far the greater part of which 
have been destroyed and abandoned as useless, or worse than use- 
less, in a campaign on the European system. It requires, indeed, 
no trifling victory of reason and courage over imagination, to an- 
ticipate the easy capture of a line of towers and lofty walls, well 
furnished with cannon, and crowning the summits of hills high 
and steep by nature and art. But a little experience shews that 
fastnesses of this kind, the more inaccessible they are from the 
plain, are, under ordinary circumstances, the less valuable, as 
depots, as commanding great roads, or as facilitating the progress 
or manoeuvres of a defensive army. Even separately taken, and 
as places of refuge, it may be soon discovered that the most steep 
and rugged mountains, in the ravines with which they abound, 
afford frequently very advantageous and secure avenues, by which 
an attacking force may approach their walls completely covered 
from their artillery, while the effects of bombardment on a rocky 
soil are very serious and terrible to a native army. Accordingly, 
these sky-threatening fortresses were found, in the late war, to 
fall successively, and in far less time than could be expected, be- 
fore the British and Sepoy armies, while, even with all the im- 
perfections of military architecture in India, (defects which are, 
of course, more conspicuous in a site where all is artificial) the 
cities of Belgaum and Bhurtpoor, seated on plains, but enclosing 
large areas, and partly defended by tanks, are those which have 
opposed the most formidable obstacles to our arms in this coun- 
try. Still, there are some hill-forts which are so excellent in their 
kind, that no government can act wisely in slighting them, and it 
is to be hoped that the British will not forget, in the case of Tara- 
ghur, Kullinghur, Asseerghur, and a few others, how valuable, in 
the event of their arms sustaining a* reverse, these noble rocks may 
become to a retreating force, and how great their strength is likely 
to be when in the hands of European officers. 

The plain of Poonah is very bare of trees, and though there 
are some gardens immediately around the city, yet as both these 
and the city itself lie in a small hollow on the banks of the river 
Moola, they are not sufficiently conspicuous to interrupt the ge- 
neral character of nakedness in the picture, any more than the 
few young trees and ornamental shrubs with which the bunga- 
lows of the cantonment are intermingled. The principal and 
most pleasing feature, is a small insulated hill immediately over 
the town, with a temple of the goddess Parvati on its summit, 
and a large tank which, when I saw it, was nearly dry, at its 
base. 

All the grass-land round this tank, and generally through the 
Deckan, swarms with a small land-crab, which burrows in the 



158 



POONAH. 



ground, and runs with considerable swiftness, even when encum- 
bered with a bundle of food almost as big as itself. This food is 
grass, or the green stalks of rice, and it is amusing to see them, 
sitting as it were upright, to cut their hay with their sharp pincers, 
then waddling off with the sheaf to their holes as quickly as their 
sidelong pace will carry them. 

The city of Poonah is far from handsome, and of no great ap- 
parent size, though to my surprise, I was assured that it still 
contains 100,000 people. It is without walls or fort, very irre- 
gularly built and paved, with mean bazars, deep ruinous streets, 
interspersed with peepul-trees, &c. many small, but no large or 
striking pagodas, and as few traces as can well be conceived of 
its having been so lately the residence of a powerful sovereign. 
The palace is large, and contains a handsome quadrangle sur- 
rounded by cloisters of carved wooden pillars, but is, externally, 
of mean appearance, and the same observation will apply to other 
smaller residencies of the Peishwa, which, whimsically enough, 
are distinguished by the names of the days of the week — " Mon- 
day's Palace, Tuesday's Palace," &c. The principal building is 
used at present, on its ground-floor, as the prison for the town and 
district ; on the floor immediately above is a dispensary, and a 
large audience chamber, resembling that at Baroda, which is fit- 
ted up with beds as an infirmary for the natives, while higher still, 
a long gallery is used as an insane hospital. Both these places, 
though, when I saw them, rather crowded, were clean and well 
kept, and in the latter particularly, the unfortunate patients were 
so clean, quiet, well-fed, and comfortably clothed, as to do very 
great credit to Dr. Ducat, the station surgeon, particularly as my 
visit was not prepared for or expected. The madness of most of 
the patients seemed of a quiet and idiotic character. One man 
only was pointed out to me as sometimes violent, and dangerous 
from his great strength. He was a sepoy, a very powerful and 
handsome man, who at this time, however, was walking up and 
down without chains, very civil, and apparently composed and 
tranquil. Another, with a countenance strongly denoting despon- 
dency, seemed to have contracted a friendship with a spaniel be- 
longing to one of the attendants, which sate on his bed, and round 
which he kept his arms folded. Dr. Ducat asked me afterwards, 
if I had noticed the very peculiar conformation of these patients' 
skulls. 1 did not observe it, and therefore can only say from his 
word, that there was any singularity. 

The cantonment of Poonah is on an elevated situation a little 
to, the westward of the city, and in its general appearance and 
locality reminded me of that of Nusseerabad, Here, as there, 
the horses are picketted in the open air all the year round, an 
arrangement which is said to answer extremely well not only for 



GOVERNMENT OF THE DECKAN. 



159 



cheapness and convenience, but for the health and serviceable 
state of the animals. The streets are wide, and the whole en- 
campment, I thought, well arranged and handsome ; there is a 
good station-library for the soldiers, another, supported by sub- 
scription, for the officers, and the regimental schools I was told 
by Archdeacon Barnes, (for I was too unwell to keep the ap- 
pointment which I had made to visit them) are in excellent order. 
The Church is spacious and convenient, but in bad architectural 
taste, and made still uglier, externally, by being covered with 
dingy blue wash picked out with w 7 hite. Mr. Robinson, the 
Chaplain, appears to draw very numerous and attentive congre- 
gations both in the mornings and evenings ; the latter particularly, 
which is a voluntary attendance, shewed as many soldiers nearly 
as the morning's parade, and there appeared good reason to think 
not only that the talents and zeal of their able and amiable Min- 
ister produced the effect to be anticipated, but that he was well 
supported by the example and influence of Sir Charles Colville 
and others in authority. I was so fortunate as to prevail on Sir 
Charles Colville to rescind his order, restricting the soldiers from 
carrying the books of the station-library with them to their quar- 
ters, and trust that an essential good may thus be produced both 
to this and all the other cantonments of the Bombay army. And 
on the whole, though the state of my health prevented my either 
seeing or doing so much at Poonah as I had hoped to do, and, 
under other circumstances, might have done, I trust that the 
journey was not altogether useless to myself and others. 

During the hours that illness confined me to my room, I had 
the advantage of reading the reports on the state of the Deckan 
by Mr. Elphinstone and Mr. Chaplin, with a considerable volume 
of MS. documents, and was thus enabled, better than I otherwise 
should have been, to acquire a knowledge of this new and im- 
portant conquest. The country conquered from the Maharattas, 
with the exception of the principality of Saltara and some other 
smaller territories which still remain under their native sove- 
reigns, is divided into several large districts, each under the 
management of a single officer, generally a military man, with 
the title of Collector, but exercising also the functions of Judge 
of Circuit and Magistrate, while over all these is the chief Com- 
missioner, resident at Poonah, and having a Collector under him 
for that province, so as to be at liberty to attend to all the differ- 
ent districts, and bound to make an annual circuit through the 
greater part of them. 

This simplicity of administration seems well suited to the cir- 
cumstances of the country and the people, and two other very 
great though incidental good effects arise from it, inasmuch as 
1st, there is a greater number of subordinate but respectable and 



160 



THE DECKAN. 



profitable situations open to the natives, than can be the case 
under the system followed in Bengal ; and, secondly, the abuses 
which seem inseparable from the regular Adawlut courts of jus- 
tice have not been introduced here, but offences are tried and 
questions of property decided, in the first instance, by native 
punchaets or juries assembled in the villages, and under the au- 
thority of the Potail or hereditary village chief, or, in graver and 
more difficult cases, by native pundits, stationed with handsome 
salaries at Poonah and other great towns, whose decisions may 
be confirmed or revised by the chief Commissioner. The ad- 
vantages of this institution seem great ; it is true, indeed, that 
many complaints are made of the listlessness, negligence, and de- 
lays of the native jurors or arbitrators, (for the punchaet system 
resembles the latter of these characters rather than the former,) 
but still the delay is, apparently, less than occurs under the Adaw- 
lut in our old provinces, while the reputation of the court, so 
far as integrity goes, is far better than that of the other. Even- 
tually, too, these institutions thus preserved and strengthened 
may be of the greatest possible advantage to the country by in- 
creasing public spirit, creating public opinion, and paving the 
way to the obtainment and profitable use of further political 
privileges. 

The whole of the Deckan had, for some years back, suffered 
greatly by drought and a consequent scarcity, which, in the east- 
ern districts, amounted, at this time, to absolute famine, with its 
dreadful attendant evils of pestilence and the weakening^of all 
moral ties. These calamities were not so much felt in the neigh- 
bourhood and to the west of Poonah ; and, every where, making 
due allowance for them, the country seemed to thrive under its 
present system of government. The burdens of the peasantry are 
said to be decidedly less in amount, and collected in a less op- 
pressive manner, than under the old monarchy. The English 
name is, therefore, popular with all but those who are inevitably 
great losers by our coming, — the courtiers of the Peishwa, such 
of the trades as lived by the splendour of his court, and, probably, 
though this does not appear, of the Brahmins. The great body 
of the Maharatta people are a very peaceable and simple pea- 
santry, of frugal habits, and gentle dispositions ; there seems to be 
no district in India, of equal extent and population, where so few 
crimes are committed, and of the robberies and murders which 
really occur the greatest part by far are the work of the Bheels, 
who, on these mountains as well as in Central India, maintain a 
precarious and sanguinary independence, and are found less ac- 
cessible to such means of conciliation as have yet been tried with 
them, than any of their more northern kindred. 

The existence of private property in the soil seems generally 



THE DECKAN. 161 

admitted through these provinces, and, as I am assured, through 
the southern parts of the peninsula. The Potails, or head-men of 
the village, are hereditary ; the same is the case with the barber, 
watchman, brahmin, &c. of each community, each of whom is en- 
dowed with his little glebe of land. The relation between the 
ryut and the Potail I could not clearly learn, but it seemed plain 
that the latter could not at will displace the former from his farm, 
and that in the event of his not paying the fees due to himself or 
the crown, he has no remedy but in a legal process. The share 
taken by government appears to be high, at least one-fifth, and 
this is settled by an annual valuation. Government express them- 
selves very desirous to bring about a permanent settlement, but 
say that till they have more knowledge as to the land itself, and 
its real proprietors, they should run a risk of doing greater injust- 
ice, and occasioning greater evils than any which they can rea- 
sonably apprehend under the present system. 

The Deckan in its general character is a barren country, and 
the population evidently falls short of the average of Europe. In 
Europe there is no country of which it reminds me so much as 
Hungary, a region of which the fertility is generally overrated. 
Like Hungary great part of the Deckan might seem well adapted 
for vines, and it would be wise in government to encourage their 
cultivation, if it were only to obtain a better beverage for their 
troops than the vile brandy which they now give them daily. 

The Raja of Saltara is described as a well disposed young man 
of good understanding, whose system of government, though he 
is now quite out of leading strings, is still happily influenced by 
the instruction and example which he received in his early youth 
from the then resident, Captain Grant. His country is peaceable, 
orderly, and as prosperous as can be expected under the calami- 
tous dispensations of Providence, which have afflicted it as well 
as its neighbours. The Raja himself is said to be so ardent a pro- 
fessed lover of peace as almost to bring his sincerity into question, 
never failing to express wonder and horror at the conduct of all 
the more martial or quarrelsome sovereigns of India. The other 
petty sovereigns are supposed not to differ from the average of 
Hindoo governors. They are all poor and disposed to be turbu- 
lent, and it has been always one of the most delicate and neces- 
sary duties of the Commissioners of the Deckan to avoid giving 
them offence, and to interfere with them only just enough to pre- 
serve the general peace. 

The climate of the Deckan is highly praised during the rainy 
and cool seasons, and the hot winds are of no long duration. Its 
openness and height above the sea may be expected to render it 
salubrious. Candeish has been so much ruined during the years 
of trouble that a great part of it is jungle, with its usual plagues 



162 CANDAULAH. 

of Bheels, wild beasts, and fevers. The concans are fertile, but, 
generally speaking, hot and unhealthy. Severndroog, however, 
and its neighbouring station of Dapoolie, in the southern concan, 
being on an elevated part of the coast, enjoy a fine breeze, and 
have been fixed on as the site of a convalescent hospital for the 
European garrison of Bombay. 

July 5. — Dr. Barnes and I left Poonah, as before, in our palan- 
queens, except that I rode through the city and for a few miles on 
our road, till the sun grew too hot. We passed the river by a 
deep ford immediately beyond the town, we ourselves in a boat 
and' the horses swam over ; and arrived at Candaulah, where we 
slept. The rain here was almost incessant, and seemed to have 
driven under the shelter of the post bungalow many animals which 
usually avoid the neighbourhood of man. We were on our guard 
against scorpions and centipedes, of which the tavern keeper told 
us that he had killed many within the last few days, but I was a 
little startled, while passing through a low door-way, to feel some- 
thing unusual on my shoulder, and on turning my face round, to 
see the head of a snake pointed towards my cheek. I shook him 
off, and he was killed by a servant. He was a small green one, 
mottled with a few black spots ; some of those who saw him de- 
clared him to be very venomous, others denied it, and it unluckily 
did not occur to me to examine his fangs. Whatever were his 
powers of mischief, I had good reason to be thankful to Provi- 
dence that he did not bite me ; for, besides the necessity, under 
the uncertainty of his poisonous nature, of using painful remedies, 
I should have had to bear many hours suspense between life and 
death. 

I rode down the Ghats, the scenery of which I thought even 
more beautiful than I did when I ascended. The foliage struck 
me more, and I was particularly pleased with a species of palm, 
resembling the sago-tree, which seems the hardiest of its genus, 
and is certainly one of the most beautiful. Its leaf is narrower 
than most other kinds, so as to give the branches at some distance 
something of the air of a weeping- willow, but it has also a splen- 
did ornament in a pendent cluster of what I suppose to be seed- 
vessels, hanging like an enormous ear of corn, among the boughs. 
All the torrents, most of which had been dry when I passed be- 
fore, were now full, and every chasm in the steep side of the moun- 
tains offered the prospect of a cascade. I saw here ten at one 
view. 

I left my horse at Chowke, where we breakfasted, and had the 
good fortune to meet an agreeable young man of the name of 
Babington, many members of whose family I knew in England. 
Inns are,, in every part of the world, the favourite scenes for ro- 
mances, and the unexpected interviews in which romances abound ; 



RETURN TO BOMBAY. 



163 



but I have often thought that a serai, or post-house in India, would 
have particular advantages in this way, both from the wild and 
romantic character of the places in which they stand, and the 
strange selection from all the liberal professions and half the re- 
spectable families in England, who may be, without improbability, 
supposed occasionally to meet under circumstances where to avoid 
each other would, even if it were wished, be altogether impossible. 

We dined and slept at Panwellee, where we found a bundur 
boat and two cotton boats waiting our arrival ; the boisterous south 
wind would not allow of our going direct to Bombay ; and the 
serang said the tide would not serve for our sailing round by Tan- 
nah before four o'clock the next morning. 

The evening we employed in walking about the little town, 
where I found some Mussulmans who spoke a little Hindoostanee, 
and a Parsee who spoke very good English. I also found some 
officers of one of the East India Company's ships, waiting with 
one of the boats of the vessel for the arrival of their captain from 
Poonah. They told me of the very stormy weather which had 
occurred since my leaving Bombay, during which a brig of war in 
the service of the Imam of Muscat had been cast away, and one 
of the English vessels which had left the port at the time of my 
departure, had been driven back in great peril and distress. The 
Arab captain of the Imam's brig I had met at breakfast with Mr. 
Elphinstone, and was sincerely sorry for his misfortune. Both he 
and his crew were providentially saved. He was a keen, lively 
little man, who spoke English well, and apparently affected Eng- 
lish manners, though I saw no traces about him of that coarseness 
and swearing which too many of the people of this country sup- 
pose to be characteristic of Englishmen. He had taken mucji 
pains with himself, and bore the reputation of a very tolerable 
sailor. The misfortune which had now overtaken him was not 
attributed to ignorance, or any thing but the unusual violence of 
the weather. It was likely, however, to be very injurious to his 
success in life, not only from the actual loss of his own property 
on board the ship, but from the prejudice felt by Mussulmans 
against trusting those who have once shewn themselves unlucky. 

At the appointed hour in the morning of the 7th we embarked 
on the Panwellee river, with a strong adverse gale, and heavy 
showers. The tide carried us down to the mouth of the river, 
and considerably favoured our egress. We had, however, a severe 
struggle after entering into the northern branch of the Bombay 
harbour, got wet through and through, and our boat filled so fast 
with the seas which broke over us, that two of the crew were 
continually engaged in baleing. This continued till, after many 
short tacks, we cleared the point which divides the branch in 
which we were tossing from the strait leading to Tannah. Along 
Vol. II.— 21 



164 



BOMBAY. 



this last we went with a fair wind, and arrived safe at Tannahj 
from whence I returned to Pareil. 

On the Saturday following (July 10,) I went to Mr. Baillie's, 
the senior Judge at Tannah, to he ready to celebrate the conse- 
cration of the new church there the next day. The church, though 
small, is extremely elegant and convenient. The architect, Capt. 
Tate, in order to secure the most advantageous view of the build- 
ing, externally, with reference to the situation, and at the same 
time to observe the ancient ecclesiastical custom of placing the 
altar eastward, has contrived the chancel, a semicircle, on one side, 
like a little transept, the pulpit being in a corresponding semicircle 
opposite. The arrangement is extremely convenient, and the 
effect very pleasing.* 

Monday morning I returned to Pareil. 

The remainder of my stay in Bombay was disagreeably and 
laboriously occupied in examining into the conduct and character 
of one of the Chaplains, a man of talent and eloquence, and with 
high pretensions to austere piety. The enquiry ended very un- 
satisfactorily ; grievous charges were brought against him, and his 
manner of conducting his defence did his own character much dis- 
service ; still, as nothing of any great consequence was actually 
proved against him, I only wrote him a letter expressive of my 
feelings, but which was calculated to induce his brethren to hope 
the best concerning him, and not to conduct themselves towards 
him in a manner which would drive him from society, and cut off 
his chance of amendment, if guilty. This I did the day of my de- 
parture, and I trust I acted for the best. 

My miscellaneous observations on Bombay have been deferred 
so long, that they will probably be very imperfect. The island,! 

* The principal Protestant church in Bombay is within the Fort; it is a 
large and handsome building, with some tolerably good monuments ; there is 
also a small temporary chapel at Matoonga, and a church, which the Bishop 
consecrated, has recently been built in the island of Colabah, where there are 
considerable cantonments. There is likewise a Presbyterian place of worship 
within the Fort. A regular weekly service has just been established on board 
one of the largest ships, for the time being, in the harbour, to accomodate those 
officers and men whose duties prevent their attending church. The first day 
the experiment was made, the Bishop preached on board the Windsor Castle. 
Mr. Mainwaring the officiating chaplain in the church of Colabah, has also 
undertaken this harbour duty. Several Portuguese and Armenian churches, 
two or three synagogues, and many mosques and pagodas are scattered about 
in various parts of the island. — Extract from Editor's Journal. 

t The island of Colabah is situated at the entrance of the harbour, and is 
connected with that of Bombay by a pier, which is, however overflowed at 
high-water. Adjoining this pier are the docks, which are large, and, I believe, 
the only considerable ones in India, where the tides do not often rise high 
enough to admit of their construction. Cotton is the principal article of ex- 
port, great quantities of which come from the north-west of India, and I have 
frequently been interested in seeing the immense bales lying on the piers, and 



BOMBAY. 



165 



as well as most of those in its neighbourhood, is apparently little 
more than a cluster of small detached rocks, which have been 
joined together by the gradual progress of coral reefs, aided by 
sand thrown up by the sea, and covered with the vegetable mould 
occasioned by the falling leaves of the sea-loving coco. The in- 
terior consists of a long but narrow tract of low ground, which 
has evidently been, in the first instance, a salt lagoon, gradually 
filled up by the progress which I have mentioned, and from which 
the high tides are still excluded only by artificial embankments. 
This tract is a perfect marsh during the rainy season, and in a 
state of high rice cultivation. The higher ground is mere rock and 
sand, but covered with coco and toddy-palms where they can 
grow.* There is scarcely any open or grass-land in the island, 
except the esplanade before the fort, and the exercising ground at 
Matoonga, which last is the head-quarters of the artillery. The 
fort, or rather the fortified town, has many large and handsome 
houses, but few European residents, being hot, close built, with 
narrow streets, projecting upper stories and rows, in the style 
which is common all over this side of India, and of which the old 
houses in Chester give a sufficiently exact idea. 

The Bombay houses are, externally, less beautiful than those 
of Calcutta, having no pillared verandahs, and being disfigured by 
huge and high pitched roofs of red tiles. They are, generally 
speaking, however, larger, and on the whole better adapted to the 
climate. 

the ingenious screw with which an astonishing quantity is pressed into the 
canvass bags. Bombay is the port from whence almost all the trade of the 
west and north is shipped for China and England; there are several ships 
building in the slips, and the whole place has the appearance of being a flour- 
ishing commercial sea-port. 

Pearls and turquoises are brought from the Persian gulph in great numbers, 
some of which are very valuable, and fine cornelians and agates also come from 
Surat. — Extract from Editors Journal. 

* The sea abounds in excellent fish. The bumbelow, very much resembling an 
eel in shape, is considered one of the best, and great quantities are annually 
dried for the Calcutta market : it appeared to me little better than a tasteless 
mass of jelly, and very inferior to most of the other kinds. Large sea-snakes 
are seen in numbers swimming on the surface of the water: and I was assured, 
that on the Malabar coast the sailors always know when they are within 
soundings by the appearance of these animals. Buffaloes are very common in 
the island, but their beef is not reckoned good, and their milk is poorer than 
that of the cow There are no beasts of prey, excepting a few hyaenas, which are 
seldom met with ; nor are there many poisonous snakes or insects to be seen. 
The great variety and fine plumage of the smaller birds struck me very forci- 
bly ; and some of their notes, especially that of the nightingale, are very 
beautiful. The poultry is almost all brought from the coast, as well as most 
kinds of vegetables : indeed the island itself is much too small to feed its pop- 
ulation ; and, save onions, mangoes, the sweet potatoe, rice, dhal, and a few 
other kinds of grain, it produces little but the varieties of the palm tribes. — Ex- 
tract from Editors Journal. 



166 DEPARTURE FROM BOMBAY—MR. ELPHINSTONE. 



We took our final leave of Bombay on the 15th of August, and 
embarked in the Discovery, commanded by Captain Bracks, of 
the Company's Marine. Mr. Elphinstone asked all the principal 
civil and military servants of the Company to breakfast on the 
occasion, in the government-house in the fort ; many of them ac- 
companied us to the water's edge, and others went on board with 
us, among whom was Mr. Meriton, the superintendant of Marine, 
known by the desperate valour which he displayed on several oc- 
casions while commanding different East India ships. Mr. Ro- 
binson of Poonah, and Dr. Smith, accompanied me as chaplain 
and medical attendant. 

Although we had long looked forward with eagerness to the 
moment when I should be at liberty to resume a journey which 
was to take us to Calcutta, and to unite us all once more toge- 
ther, we could not leave Bombay without regret. There were 
some persons whom we were sincerely pained to part with there. 
We had met wjth much and marked kindness and hospitality, we 
had enjoyed the society of several men of distinguished talent, and 
all my views for the regulation and advantage of the Clergy, and 
for the gradual advancement of Christianity, had met with a sup- 
port beyond my hopes, and unequalled in any other part of India. 

I had found old acquaintances in Sir Edward West and Sir 
Charles Chambers, and an old and valuable friend (as well as a 
sincerely attached and cordial one) in Archdeacon Barnes. Above 
all, however, I had enjoyed in the unremitting kindness, the splen- 
did hospitality, and agreeable conversation of Mr. Elphinstone, 
the greatest pleasure of the kind which I have ever enjoyed either . 
in India or Europe. 

Mr. Elphinstone is, in every respect, an extraordinary man, 
possessing great activity of body and mind, remarkable talent for, 
and application to public business, a love of literature, and a de- 
gree of almost universal information, such as I have met with in 
no other person similarly situated, and manners and conversation 
of the most amiable and interesting character. While he has 
seen more of India and the adjoining countries than any man 
now living, and has been engaged in active political, and some- 
times military, duties since the age of eighteen, he has found time 
not only to cultivate the languages of Hindostan and Persia, but 
to preserve and extend his acquaintance with the Greek and 
Latin classics, with the French and Italian, with all the elder and 
more distinguished English writers, and with the current and 
popular literature of the day, both in poetry, history, politics, and 
political enconomy. With these remarkable accomplishments, 
and notwithstanding a temperance amounting to rigid abstinence, 
he is fond of society, and it is a common subject of surprise with 
his friends, at what hours of the day or night he finds time for 



MR. ELPHINSTONE. 



167 



the acquisition of knowledge. His policy, so far as India is con- 
cerned, appeared to me peculiarly wise and liberal, and he is evi- 
dently attached to, and thinks well of the country and its inhabi- 
tants.. His public measures, in their general tendency, evince a 
steady wish to improve their present condition. No government 
in India pays so much attention to schools and public institutions 
for education. In none are the taxes lighter, and in the admin- 
istration of justice to the natives in their own languages, in the 
establishment of punchaets, in the degree in which he employs 
the natives in official situations, and the countenance and famili- 
arity which he extends to all the natives of rank who approach 
him, he seems to have reduced to practice, almost all the reforms 
which had struck me as most required in the system of govern- 
ment pursued in those provinces of our Eastern Empire which 
I had previously visited. His popularity (though to such a feel- 
ing there may be individual exceptions) appears little less re- 
markable than his talents and acquirements, and I was struck by 
the remark I once heard, that " all other public men had their 
enemies and their friends, their admirers and their aspersors, but 
that of Mr. Elphinstone, every body spoke highly,'" Of his 
munificence, for his liberality amounts to this, I had heard much, 
and knew some instances myself. 

With regard to the free press, I was curious to know the mo- 
tives or apprehensions which induced Mr. Elphinstone to be so 
decidedly opposed to it in this country. In discussing the topic 
he was always open and candid, acknowledged that the dangers 
ascribed to a free press in India had been exaggerated, — but spoke 
of the exceeding inconvenience, and even danger which arose 
from the disunion and dissension which political dicussion pro- 
duced among the European officers at the different stations, the 
embarrassment occasioned to government by the exposure and 
canvass of all their measures by the Lentuli and Gracchi of a 
newspaper, and his preference of decided and vigorous, to half 
measures, where any restrictive measures at all were necessary. 
I confess that his opinion and experience are the strongest pre- 
sumptions which I have yet met with in favour of the cen- 
sorship. 

A charge has been brought against Mr. Elphinstone by the in- 
discreet zeal of an amiable, but not well-judging man, the "field 
officer of cavalry," who published his Indian travels, that " he is 
devoid of religion, and blinded to all spiritual truth.'" I can only 
say that I saw no reason to think so. On the contrary, after this 
character which I had read of him, I was most agreeably surprised 
to find that his conduct and conversation, so far as I could learn, 
had been always moral and decorous, that he was regular in his 
attendance on public worship, and not only well informed on re- 



168 



MR. ELPHINSTONE. 



ligious topics, but well pleased and forward to discuss them ; that 
his views appeared to me, on all essential subjects, doctrinally 
correct, and his feelings serious and reverential ; and that he was 
not only inclined to do, but actually did more for the encourage- 
ment of Christianity, and the suppression or dimunition of suttees, 
than any other Indian Governor has ventured on. That he may 
have differed in some respects from the peculiar views of the 
author in question, I can easily believe, though he could hardly 
know himself in what this difference consisted, since I am assured, 
that he had taken his opinion at second hand, and not from any 
thing which Mr. Elphinstone had either said or done. But I have 
been unable to refrain from giving this slight and imperfect account 
of the character of Mr. Elphinstone, as it appeared to me, since I 
should be sorry to have it thought that one of the ablest and most 
amiable men I ever met with, were either a profligate or an un- 
believer. 



169 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON, 

Early on the morning of the 25th of August, we cast anchor 
outside the harbour of Galle, but the directions given in the 
government chart for anchoring during this monsoon, proved so 
incorrect, that when the pilot came on board he found the vessel 
in a very dangerous situation, lying so close upon rocks, that, as 
the wind was blowing hard, he could not venture to weigh anchor, 
lest she should drive on them ; he was obliged, therefore, to warp 
her off, which occupied the whole of the morning, a miserable 
one to me, for the sea ran very high, and the ship tossed and rolled 
unceasingly. Mr. Glenie, the senior Colonial Chaplain; Mr. 
Layard, the Judge of Galle ; Mr. Mayor, one of the Church Mis- 
sionaries, and the Master Attendant of G alle, came on board to meet 
us ; and, about three o'clock, the vessel was got safe into harbour. 
The fort fired a salute, which the Discovery returned, and we 
were met on the pier by the principal inhabitants of the place, 
the regiment stationed there, and a band of spearmen and lasca- 
rines. The pier was covered with white cloth, and we passed 
between two files of soldiers to the place where palanqueens, &c. 
were waiting ; in which, preceded by native music, a constant 
attendant on all processions, we went two miles to the cutchery, 
where we were invited, and most kindly and hospitably entertain- 
ed, by Mr. Sansoni, the collector of the district. 

Point de Galle is situated at nearly the southern extremity of 
Ceylon, and its harbour is very spacious and beautiful, being 
formed in part by rocks, over which the sea foams and dashes in 
a glorious manner; it has not more than two or three ships, and 
a few small craft, within it at present. One of the former is an 
Arab which left Calcutta for Bombay, a few days before I sailed, 
early in March ; out of pure cowardice the captain put in here, 
where he has remained ever since, and will not move till the 
strength of the monsoon is over. Homeward bound ships occa- 
sionally touch at this port, and one East Indiaman regularly 
comes every year to carry off the cinnamon prepared for expor- 
tation. 

A very few English and Dutch families form the society of the 
place, and they reside principally within the fort ; the " pettah," 



170 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 

or native town, is extensive, and the houses neat. At present it 
has a very gay appearance, from being ornamented in the Cin- 
galese manner, in honour of the Bishop's arrival, with palm- 
branches, flowers, and fruits, in which kind of decoration the na- 
tives are very ingenious, and which gives the whole village the 
appearance of a jubilee. Mr. Sansoni's is a lower-roomed house, 
but very spacious and comfortable, commanding a view of the 
harbour. He is an Italian by birth, but is become quite Anglicised 
by a long residence in the island. 

The Cingalese on the coast differ very much from any Indians 
I have yet seen, and their language, also, is different ; they wear 
no turban, or other kind of covering, on the head, but turn up 
their long black hair with large tortoise-shell combs ; the coolies 
and labouring-classes have merely the waist-cloth, as in Bengal ; 
but the " Moodeliers," or native magistrates, head-men as they 
are generally called, wear a strange mixture of the Portuguese and 
native dress, but handsome, from the gold with which it is cover- 
ed. The Moodelier of Galle, and all his family, are Christians ; 
he is a most respectable man, in face and figure resembling Louis 
XVIII, to whom his sons also bear a strong likeness : the old man 
wears a handsome gold medal, given him for meritorious conduct. 

August 26. — The heat is said to be never very oppressive at 
Galle, being constantly tempered by sea-breezes, and by frequent 
rain ; the total absence of punkahs, indeed, proves the climate to 
be moderate. The fort was built by the Dutch, and is a good deal 
out of repair. We dined to-day at Mr. Layard's, who has an ex- 
cellent house within its walls ; we went in our palanqueens, and 
instead of the lanterns to which we had been accustomed in Cal- 
cutta and Bombay, were preceded by men carrying long palm- 
branches on fire ; the appearance of these natural torches was pic- 
turesque, and their smell not unpleasant ; but the sparks and flakes 
of fire which they scattered about were very disagreeable, and 
frequently were blown into my palanqueen, to the great danger 
of my muslin dress : they are never used within the fort. 

August. 27 — Our original plan of going from hence to Badda- 
game, a Church-missionary station, [about thirteen miles from 
Galle, where there is a church to be consecrated, has been frus- 
trated by the heavy rains which have lately fallen, and which have 
swollen the river so much as to make the journey impracticable ; 
we therefore decided on remaining over Sunday here, and we sent 
off the greatest part of our servants, baggage, &c. to Colombo, a 
distance of seventy-two miles. 

The Bishop was occupied all the morning in ecclesiastical af- 
fairs. There is neither Chaplain nor resident Church Missionary 
here, but Mr. Mayor and Mr. Ward occasionally come from Bad- 
dagame to do the duty, and the former remained here a month 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



171 



previous to our arrival, to prepare the young people for confirma- 
tion. The Wesleyan Society has a Missionary, who sometimes 
does duty in the church. Mrs. Gishorne has a school about a mile 
from the cutcherry, of which we hear an excellent report : she is 
at 'present at Colombo, but when we return to embark for Cal- 
cutta we hope to visit it with her. 

August 28. — The Bishop confirmed about thirty persons, of 
whom the greater proportion were natives ; some of the Moode- 
lier's family were among the number, but the rest were principally 
scholars from Mrs. Gisborne's school. He afterwards preached. 
The church was built by the Dutch, and, according to their cus- 
tom, is without a communion-table, and for the most part open. 
It is kept neatly, but it is a good deal out of repair. The native 
part of the congregation was numerous, and paid great attention 
to the ceremony, though many were there out of curiosity alone. 
Mr. Robinson preached in the evening. 

August 29. — This morning, at three o'clock, we were roused 
by beat of drum, to prepare for our march to Colombo ; we formed 
a long cavalcade of palanqueens and gigs, preceded by an escort 
of spearmen, and the noisy inharmonious music 1 mentioned be- 
fore, and attended by some of Mr. Sansoni's lascarines, who an- 
swer in some respects to our peons in Calcutta; they w T ear rather 
a pretty uniform of white, red, and black, and a conical red cap, 
with an upright white feather in it. Instead of the chattah used 
with us, these men carry large fans, made of the talipot-palm, 
which is peculiar to Ceylon, from six to nine feet in length, over 
the heads of Europeans and rich natives, to guard them from the 
sun. The road was decorated the whole way as for a festival, 
with long strips of palm-branches hung upon strings on either side, 
and wherever we stopt, we found the ground spread with white 
cloth, and awnings erected, beautifully decorated with flowers and 
fruits, and festooned with palm-branches. These remnants of the 
ancient custom mentioned in the Bible, of strewing the road with 
palm-branches and garments, are curious and interesting. 

At day-break we crossed the first river in a boat with a deco- 
rated awning, and at the end of twenty miles, which was accom- 
plished by the same set of bearers by ten o'clock, we arrived at 
one of the rest-houses, where we breakfasted, and remained dur- 
ing the heat of the day. These are built and kept up by govern- 
ment, for the accommodation of travellers, and are bungalows, 
merely consisting of three or four unfurnished rooms, with, pos- 
sibly, some cane bedsteads, on which the palanqueen mattrasses 
are placed ; here, as in India, every individual article wanted in 
marching, is carried with one, save tents, which on this line of 
road are supplied by these houses. The name of this place is Am- 
blegodde ; it is situated on a height commanding an extensive view 

Vol. II.— 22 



172 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



of the sea, having a bold shore on either side, with two or three 
small fishing harbours, or rather creeks. 

In a small bungalow, close to the sea, we found a splendid 
breakfast prepared for us by the Moodelier of Galle. We were 
met here by a set of dancers with grotesque masks, in dresses very 
much resembling those worn by the Otaheitan dancers, as repre- 
sented in the prints of Captain Cook's voyages. When it grew 
cool we again set out, still carried by the same bearers, there be- 
ing no means of laying a dak here as in Bengal ; these men, like 
the Madras bearers, make a sort of groaning noise every step they 
take, which is to a stranger very unpleasant ; they go through all 
the sounds of the vowels alternately, hi, ho, hu, — he, hi, hu, and 
so on. Our road had hitherto lain through a continued wood of 
palm-trees, which from its uniformity would have been tedious, 
but for the flowering shrubs and underwood with which the ground 
was covered, and for the immediate neighbourhood of the sea 
breaking beautifully over large insulated masses of coral rock : 
the coast, as well as the country for some miles inland, is gene- 
rally flat, and intersected by rivers and arms (or rather indents) of 
the sea. The population appears to consist exclusively of fish- 
ermen, and the houses bear a greater appearance of comfort than 
is usually seen in fishing villages in India. Sixteen miles further 
brought us to Ben Totte, where we dined and slept. This rest 
house is on the estuary of a broad river, but close to the sea, and 
the scenery about it is extremely beautiful. We had just time be- 
fore night closed in to take some sketches of this lovely spot ; but 
it was extremely difficult to make any thing like an accurate re- 
presentation of its scenery. Each river has its rest house on either 
side, which would seem to have been built before the regular fer- 
ries were established, when passengers had to wait, perhaps, many 
days for the floods to subside, which here are as sudden as they 
are frequent. With a little contrivance we managed to pass the 
night very comfortably either in palanqueens, or on their matrass- 
es placed on cane bedsteads. In this climate, in places where 
there are no mosquitoes, which happily is the case in this mon- 
soon, very little preparation is required for a night's lodging. Emily 
makes a capital traveller, and really enjoys it as much as any of 
the party : a palanqueen is indeed by far the least fatiguing way 
in which a child can travel. 

August 30. — At four this morning we were roused by the re- 
veille. Mr. Sansoni here took his leave, having very kindly ac- 
companied us to the end of his district, to see that we wanted no 
comfort or accommodation : the Galle escort also left us, and we 
were met by spearmen, &c. &c. from Colombo ; having crossed 
the river in a highly ornamented boat, we proceeded twelve 
miles along a road made more interesting by the mixture of tim- 



I- 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



173 



ber-trees with the palm. The bread-fruit tree I here saw for the 
first time, growing to an immense size, and with gigantic leaves, 
shaped like those of the fig-tree ; the jamba, or rose-apple, strew- 
ing the ground with its beautiful scarlet flowers ; the banyan, and 
the cotton-tree, with many others, whose names I did not know. 

The wild pine-apple grows in abundance ; it is a shrub not of 
any great size, which throws out its branches into all kinds of fan- 
tastic shapes, bearing a fruit resembling a pine-apple, but pendant 
and without a crown ; it is said to be poisonous ; another shrub 
with a small leaf, whose name I forget, is valued by the natives 
on account of its emetic properties ; the end of each twig is 
crowned by two white leaves, out of which a small and ugly flower 
springs. 

Of flowers the Gloriosa Superba and the Amaryllis are the 
most beautiful, and grow in profusion ; many others which I had 
been accustomed to see in hot-houses at home, weak and stunted, 
here grow in splendid luxuriance ; in places the trees appeared to 
stand on a carpet of flowers. 

At Caltura is a small fort, built to defend the passage of the river 
in former times, and now occasionally inhabited by Mr. Rodney, 
one of the members of government, on a hill which commands an 
extensive view of the sea, with a fine river running at its foot, 
now, like all the others, much swollen with the rain. Mr. Rod- 
ney drove us in his carriage from hence to Paltura, where, after 
crossing a fourth river, we were met by Sir Edward Barnes's car- 
riage, drawn by four beautiful English horses, which took us, with 
a fresh relay, through the fort at Colombo, where the usual salute 
was fired, to St. Sebastian. Here we found a most comfortable 
house, provided and furnished by government, on the borders of 
a large lake, but commanding a fine open view of the sea. This 
was the residence of the late Archdeacon Twistleton, whose death 
we have heard much lamented; it is reckoned one of the healthi- 
est spots in the island, always enjoying a fine breeze from the sea. 
In the evening we dined at the " king's house," that being the 
name given to the residence of the Governor in this colony. We 
were most kindly received by Sir Edward and Lady Barnes, and 
met a small and agreeable party, but I was much tired, and glad 
to go home early. The house is a bad one, in the centre of the 
fort, but every thing is conducted on a handsome and liberal scale 
by the Governor. 

August 31. — Our morning was, as usual on a first arrival, taken 
up by visits; in the afternoon we drove in Sir E. Barnes's socia- 
ble through the far-famed cinnamon gardens, which cover upwards 
of 17,000 acres of land on the coast, the largest of which are near 
Colombo. The plant thrives best in a poor sandy soil in a damp 
atmosphere; it grows wild in the woods to the size of a large ap- 



174 



JOURNEY OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



pie-tree, but when cultivated is never allowed to grow more than 
ten or twelve feet in height, each plant standing separate. The 
leaf is something like that of the laurel in shape, hut of a lighter 
colour; when it first shoots out it is red, and changes gradually to 
green. It is now out of blossom, but I am told that the flower is 
white, and appears when in full blossom to cover the garden. 
After hearing so much of the spicy gales from this island, I was 
much disappointed at not being able to discover any scent, at 
least, from the plants, in passing through the gardens ; there is a 
very fragrant-smelling flower growing under them, which at first 
led us into a belief that we smelt the cinnamon, but we were soon 
undeceived. On pulling off a leaf or a twig you perceive the 
spicy odour very strongly, but I was surprised to hear that the 
flower has little or none. As cinnamon forms the only considera- 
ble export of Ceylon, it is of course preserved with great care ; 
by the old Dutch law, the penalty for cutting a branch was no 
less than the loss of a hand ; at present a fine expiates the same 
offence. The neighbourhood of Colombo is particularly favoura- 
ble to its growth, being well sheltered, with a high equable tem- 
perature ; and as showers fall very frequently, though a whole 
day's heavy rain is uncommon, the ground is never parched. 

The pearl fishery was at one time very productive, but some 
years ago it entirely failed, and though it has lately been resumed, 
the success has been small. Ceylon, partly from its superabun- 
dant fertility, which will scarcely allow of the growth of foreign 
plants, and partly from the indolence of the natives, is a very 
poor colony ; the potatoe will not thrive at all, and it is only at 
Candy, a town about seventy miles in the interior, that any kind 
of European vegetable comes to perfection. The Governor has 
a basket-full sent down every morning from his garden there ; the 
bread-fruit is the best substitute for potatoes I have met with, but 
even this is extremely inferior. A plant, something between the 
turnip and the cabbage, called " nolkol," is good, but it is not in- 
digenous, having been originally imported from the Cape. 

I heard a gentlemen say, with reference to the indolence of 
the natives, u give a man a coco-tree, and he will do nothing for 
his livelihood ; he sleeps under its shade, or perhaps builds a hut 
of its branches, eats its nuts as they fall, drinks its juice, and 
smokes his life away.'" Out of a numerous population, a small 
proportion are labourers ; the system of forced labour, which we 
found established by the Dutch, still exists in some degree, and a 
man can hardly be expected to pay much attention to the culture 
of his field, when he is liable at any moment to be taken off to 
public works ; in his own district he receives no payment for 
road-making, but when removed to a distance he has three 
fanams, or three half-pence per day. The people are, however, 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



175 



lightly taxed, and the general aspect of their houses would indi- 
cate more comfort and attention to appearances, than all I had 
heard of them had led me to expect. 

There is one custom here which I have not seen elsewhere, 
which struck me as remarkably humane ; at certain distances 
along the road large pots of water, with ladles attached to them, 
are placed for the use of travellers, and I have frequently seen 
one of my bearers take a draught with great eagerness, and then 
run to join his comrades at my palanqueen. 

We dined again at the king's house, and met nearly all the 
European society of the place. The colour of the natives ex- 
cepted, every thing wears a more English aspect than we have 
been accustomed to in India, (the residents made a distinction 
between the island and the continent, not allowing the former to 
be India.) Where coachmen are kept, they are invariably Eu- 
ropeans, who do not appear to suffer from the sun ; the Cingalese 
have not the slightest idea of driving, and know very little about 
a horse, and the " horse-keeper," as the saees is here called, as 
well as in Bombay, is invariably from the coast. Those persons 
who have not European coachmen have the horses of their palan- 
queen-carriages and " bandies," or gigs, led by these men, and 
the pace at which they run is surprising. Gigs and hackeries all 
go here by the generic name of bandy. The Calcutta caranchie, 
and the Bombay shigrum po, are alike unknown. The regiment 
doing duty in the fort is European, and the white sentries assist 
materially in giving the place an European look. 

September 1. — The Bishop held his Visitation, which was 
attended by all the colonial Chaplains and Church-Missionaries 
in the island, the latter of whom were assembled at Cotta for 
their annual meeting, with the exception of Mr. Mayor, who was 
detained at Baddagame by a severe fever, caught on his way 
down to meet us at Galle. I think there are few sights more impres- 
sive than that of a Bishop addressing his clergy from the altar ; 
and on this occasion it was rendered peculiarly interesting by 
their being two regularly ordained native priests among the num- 
ber, Mr. de Sarum, and Christian David, both Colonial Chap- 
lains ; the former has had an English education, and was entered, 
I believe, at Cambridge ; he married a young woman, who came 
out with him, and who shews her good taste and good judgment 
in living on the best terms with his family, who are very respect- 
able people, of the first rank in the island. The clergy dined 
with us in the evening. 

September 2. — We were again all morning engaged with visi- 
tors. In the evening, Lady Barnes having lent me her fine Eng- 
lish horse, we rode through a considerable part of the gardens. 
These are so extensive, and the roads cut through them so pre- 



176 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



cisely alike, that we completely lost our way, and did not get 
home till late. There is neither horse, carriage, palanqueen, or 
bearer to be hired ; but we do not feel the want, between the ex- 
ertions used by our friends, Mr. Glenie, now the acting archdea- 
con, and Mr. Layard, recently appointed collector of this district, 
to procure us bearers in travelling, and the liberality with which 
Sir Edward Barnes allows us the use of his horses, carriages, 
and body-guard. He has a magnificent stud of English horses; 
they look well, but are apt to die of inflammatory attacks : he 
lost one very fine one while we were in the island. There are 
none reared in Ceylon, but those in general use come from the 
islands in the neighbourhood of Jaffna, which afford the best 
pasture both for horses and cattle. The former are under the 
superintendance of an officer, and when old enough are disposed 
of by government. Those I have seen are pretty, but slight ; 
the oxen too are small ; but beef is the most plentiful as well as 
the best meat in Ceylon. 

Mr. WalbeofFe, the manager of the cinnamon gardens, good- 
naturedly sent some of the cinnamon peelers to our bungalows, 
that we might see the way in which the spice is prepared. They 
brought with them branches of about three feet in length, of 
which they scraped off the rough bark with knives, and then 
with a peculiar-shaped instrument, stripped off the inner rind in 
long slips ; these are tied up in bundles, and put to dry in the sun, 
and the wood is sold for fuel. In the regular preparation, how- 
ever, the outer bark is not scraped off ; but the process of fer- 
mentation which the strips undergo when tied up in large quan- 
tities, removes the coarse parts. The peelers are called "Cha- 
liers they are a distinct caste, whose origin is uncertain, though 
they are generally supposed to be descended from a tribe of wea- 
vers, who settled in Ceylon, from the Continent, about six hun- 
dred years ago ; in the interior they now pursue their original 
occupation, but those in the maritime provinces are exclusively 
employed in peeling cinnamon. They earn a great deal of 
money during the season ; but their caste is considered very low, 
and it would be a degradation for any other to follow the same 
business. 

September 3. — This morning we went to the king's house, 
where we spent a couple of hours very agreeably. The Bishop 
has been much engaged since our arrival in preparing a plan, 
which he discussed to-day with Sir E. Barnes, for restoring the 
schools, and the system of religious instruction which we found 
established by the Dutch, and of uniting it more closely with the 
Church of England. At a very small annual expense, this plan would, 
he thinks, be the means of spreading, not merely a nominal, but 
real Christianity through the island. There is also another object 



JOURNEY OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



17? 



which he has, if possible, still more at heart, which is giving the 
native " proponents," or catechists, such facilities for education 
as would gradually fit them for admittance into holy orders, and 
make them the ground-work of a parochial clergy ; — he has been 
much pleased by the anxiety which they shew for the improve- 
ment of their scholars, but they have not the means of acquiring 
knowledge sufficient to enable them to teach others, and are 
many of them ill informed, though very good men. Books are 
scarce in Cingalese and Tamul, and he is anxious to prevail on 
some of the colonial clergy to translate a few of the more popu- 
lar works into these languages. In these and in various other 
suggestions which he has made to both chaplains and mission- 
aries, he has, almost universally, met with the readiest concur- 
rence ; and he has often expressed to me the extreme gratifica- 
tion] which he has derived since we have been here, from wit- 
nessing the exemplary conduct of the whole Church Establish- 
ment, and the readiness with which they have entered into his 
views. While he was conversing on these subjects with the Go- 
vernor, Lady Barnes took me to see her museum, and I was 
much interested in looking over her collection of shells and other 
Ceylon curiosities. 

Sept. 3. — The Bishop preached this morning at St. Thomas's ; 
the church was very full, and as it has no punkas, the heat was 
great. It is a remarkable ugly inconvenient building ; indeed, it 
was not originally intended as a church by the Dutch, and the 
colony is too poor to build another. There is a mural tablet in it 
to Bishop Middleton, who was here at two different periods. 

Sept. 4. — All morning, as usual, the Bishop was occupied in dis- 
cussing ecclesiastical matters with Mr. Robinson and Mr. Glenie, 
and I returned a few visits. In the evening we rode through the 
fort, and the principal streets of Colombo, as well as through the 
Pettah, or native town. The fort is on a peninsula, projecting 
into the sea, and is very extensive, surrounded with a broad deep 
ditch ; near the glacis is the end of a large lake, which extends 
some miles into the interior, and which might, in case of necessity, 
be easily connected with the sea, so as completely to insulate the 
fort. lu the middle of this lake is an island, called by the Dutch 
" Slave Island there are several pretty houses on it, and a re- 
giment of sepoys is now stationed there ; the town is handsome, 
and nearly divided into four parts by two broad streets ; there are 
many Dutch houses, which may be distinguished from those of the 
English by their glass windows, instead of Venetians, for the Dutch 
seem to shut up their houses at all seasons ; they have large ve- 
randahs to the south. The Pettah is very extensive and populous ; 
the inhabitants, it is said, amount to between 50 and 60,000, of a 
very mixed race. We passed the Dutch and Portuguese churches, 



173 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



both pretty buildings, especially the former ; the latter is dedicated 
V to the Mater Dolorosa. The houses of the Europeans without 
the town are very beautifully situated, especially those near the 
sea ; they are all, with one or two exceptions, lower-roomed 
houses, and built on the same plan as those of Bombay, having 
the same disadvantage of projecting low-roofed verandahs, which 
keep out the air. The floors are almost universally of brick, very 
unsightly, and disagreeable from the dust which they occasion; but 
this is unavoidable in an island where no chunam is made but by 
a most expensive process, from shells, and where the white ants 
immediately destroy timber. There seems to be little traffic car- 
ried on except in cinnamon and pepper ; the coir rope is made in 
great quantities ; indeed, the coco-nut tree, in its various produc- 
tions of arrack, oil, &c. Sic. seems to be the principal support of 
the natives. No muslins are manufactured, and only the common 
strong coarse cloth, woven by the natives, is wove in the island. 
Of this I had a good deal given me by some of the Malay inhabi- 
tants. 

September 6. — Early this morning the Bishop went to Cotta, 
a church missionary station, about six miles from Colombo. Mr. 
Lambrick, whom I remember tutor, some years ago, in Lord Com- 
bermere's family, is at present sole missionary there, and performs 
the important duties of the station in a most exemplary manner ; 
the number of inhabitants in the district is very great ; there are 
eight schools in the village, containing near 200 children, of whom 
a few are girls, besides several in the adjoining hamlets ; and he 
has two services every Sunday in English and Cingalese, as well 
as occasional weekly duty in the schools ; there is no church. 

The society sent out a press a few years ago, which is now in 
active use. Several Cingalese grammars and vocabularies, and 
some tracts, have been printed in it, and Mr. Lambrick is now 
engaged in a translation of the Old Testament and the Gospels, 
part of which is printed. The language is not well suited to the 
dignity and simplicity of the Bible, as it is burdened with hono- 
rary affixes, used as well in the Buddhist religious books, as in the 
common intercourse of the natives with their superiors, and which 
have hitherto been admitted into our translations of the Scriptures. 
Such a word as " Wahanseghede" affixed tot he names of the Di- 
vine Persons, is certainly very cumbersome ; and Mr. Lambrick 
is anxious to be allowed to discontinue their common use in a re- 
vision of the translation of the Scriptures, in which he has been 
invited to join by the Colombo Auxiliary Bible Society. 

While the Bishop was at Cotta, Mr. Lambrick read him an ad- 
dress in the name of all the missionaries, in which, besides giving 
him an account of their respective stations, they asked his advice 
on several important points, of which the principal related to 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



179 



prayer meetings at each other's houses, and to the baptism of na- 
tive children. He answered these questions generally at the time, 
and afterwards wrote them a letter, in which he entered more at 
length on the different subjects proposed.* 

Colombo, Sept. 13, 1825. 

* My Reverend Brethren, 

Having 1 been consulted by you, and the other Clergy of this Archdeaconry, 
on the propriety of engaging with missionaries of other religious sects, in solemn 
conference on topics connected with your work among the heathen, such as 
are now statedly holden at Jaffna, and at this place, I have first to express my 
thankfulness to God for the brotherly and tolerant spirit which, since my arrival 
in the island, I have noticed among those, who, with less or greater differences 
of opinions, and discrepancies of doctrine and discipline, abundantly to be de- 
plored, yet hold, as I am persuaded, the same faith in the cross, and shall be 
found, as I trust, in the last day, on the same Rock of Salvation. Nor am I less 
thankful to the Giver of all good things, for the affectionate and orderly spirit 
which I find in you, my brethren, and which has led you, voluntarily, to submit 
a question in which your hearts, as I have reason to believe, are much engaged, 
to the counsel of your Ordinary. May God continue and increase this mutual 
confidence between us, and conduct it, and all things else, to His glory, and our 
salvation ! 

The meeting in question has been described to me as a conference of minis- 
ters and missionaries, in a certain district, held in each other's house in rota- 
tion, attended by the ministers or missionaries themselves, their wives and 
families, and occasionally by devout laymen from their vicinity. These meet- 
ings are described as beginning and ending with prayer, led, indifferently, by 
ministers of different sects, or by their lay friends, but not by the females, and 
as broken by hymns, in which all present join. The remainder of the time is 
occupied by a friendly meal together, — in the comparison, by the missionaries, 
of the different encouragements and obstacles which they meet with among 
the heathen, and in discussion of the best means by which their common work 
can be forwarded. It appears that this practice commenced at Jaffna, under 
circumstances which made it very desirable for the missionaries of the English 
Church, not only to live on friendly and courteous terms with the missionaries 
sent from America, but to profit by the experience and example of these mis- 
sionaries in their manner of addressing the heathen. And it appears, also, that 
these conferences have been strictly private and domestic, and that there has 
been no interchange or confusion of the public or appropriate functions of the 
Christian ministry, between yourselves and the friends who, unhappily, differ 
from you in points of Church discipline. Under such circumstances it is pro- 
bable, that, by God's blessing, many advantages may have arisen to you all 
from these conferences ; and, without enquiring whether these advantages 
might have been, in the first instance, attainable, in a manner less liable to in- 
convenience or misrepresentation, I am happy that I do not think it necessary 
to advise their cessation, now they are established, and that your dereliction 
of them might greatly interrupt the charitable terms on which you now live 
with your neighbours. 

There are, however, some serious dangers to which such meetings are liable, 
against which it is my duty to caution you, and by avoiding which you may 
keep your intercourse with your fellow-labourers, as now, always harmless 
and unblamed. The first of these is the risk of levelling, in the eyes of others, 
and even in your own, the peculiar claims to attention on the part of men, and 
the peculiar hopes of grace and blessing from the Most High, which, as we be- 
lieve, are possessed by the holders of an apostolic commission over those whose 
call to the ministry is less regular, though their labours are no less sincere. 
God forbid, my brethren, that I should teach you to think on this account 
Vol. II.— 23 




180 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 

On his return home he told me he had been particularly gra- 
tified with all which he had seen that morning. The station has 
been scarcely three years established. 

highly of yourselves ! Far otherwise. This sense of the advantages which 
we enjoy should humble us to the dust, when we bethink us who we are, and 
what we ought to be, who have received the Spirit of God by the dispensa- 
tion of a long line of saints and martyrs, — who are called to follow the steps 
of Ridley, Hooper, Latimer, Rowland Taylor, and Henry Martyn ; and who 
are, by the external dispensation, at least, of Providence, the inheritors of that 
grace which fell on St. Paul. Bnt humbly, yea meanly, as we are bound to 
think of ourselves, we must not appear to undervalue our apostolic bond of 
union ; and the more so here in India, inasmuch as it is the great link which 
binds us to the ancient Syrian Church, and one principal means whereby we 
hope, with the blessing of our Master, to effect its gradual reformation. The 
neglect, or abandonment, or apparent abandonment, of this principle, is the 
first danger which I apprehend to be incidental to such meetings as I have 
described. To guard against it, an additional care and caution will be desir- 
able, in your steady adherance, wherever this is practicable, to the external 
ceremonies and canonical observations of our Church ; and, without estrang- 
ing yourselves from your dissenting friends, by cultivating a yet closer union 
with those who are, properly speaking, your brother clergy. With this view I 
would recommend not only the measures which I have lately suggested, of 
frequent meetings of the clergy of this Archdeaconry for the purposes of mu- 
tual counsel and comfort, but a readiness on your part, who are Missionaries, 
to officiate, whenever you are invited, and can do it without neglect of your 
peculiar functions, in the churches of the colony, and in rendering assistance 
to the Chaplains. By this occasional attention, (for, for many reasons, I would 
have it occasional only,) to the spiritual wants of your own countrymen, seve- 
ral important ends will be obtained ; you will yourselves derive advantage from 
keeping up the habit of English composition and public speaking ; you will 
endear yourselves to your brethren and countrymen by the services which you 
will render them, and above all you will identify yourselves in the eyes of all 
men with the Established Church, and distinguish yourselves from those other 
preachers whom that Church cannot consistently recognize. 

Another precaution which occurs to me as desirable against the risk to 
which I have alluded, is that it be perfectly understood that the metings 
are for the discussion of such topics only, as belong to your distinct functions as 
missionaries to the heathen. For this reason I would recommend that the meet- 
ings be confined to missionaries only, with their families, and such devout 
laymen (for I am unwilling to damp, or seem to "discountenance, their laudable 
zeal) who have already joined themselves to your number. The other Clergy 
of the Archdeaconry will find, I conceive, a sufficient bond of union and source 
of mutual comfort and advice in the clerical meeting. There are other incon- 
veniencies and improprieties incidental to what are usually called prayer-meet- 
ings, which have led to their rejection by the great majority of the Church of 
England, and among the rest, by some excellent men, whom the conduct pur- 
sued by those with whom their chief intimacy lay, would have naturally inclined 
to favour them. I mean, among others, the late Mr. Scott of Aston Sandford, 
and the late Mr. Robinson of St. Mary's, Leicester. Such is the practice repro- 
bated by the Apostle, of a number of persons coming together, with each his 
psalm, his prayer, his exhortation ; the effect of which is, not only, often confu- 
sion, but what is worse than confusion, self-conceit and rivalry, each labouring 
to excel his brother in the choice of his expressions and the outward earnestness 
of his address — and the bad effects of emulation mixing with actions, in which 
of all others, humility and forge tfulness of self are necessary. Such, too, is that 
warmth of feeling and language, derived rather from imitation than conviction, 



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181 



September 11. — The Bishop preached at St. Thomas's on be- 
half of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, but more 

which under the circumstances which I have mentioned, are apt to degenerate 
into enthusiastic excitement or irreverent familiarity. 

And though it is only due both to yourselves, my brethren, and to your dis- 
senting fellow-labourers, to state that all which I have seen or heard of you 
sets me at ease on these subjects, so far as you are concerned, yet it will be well 
for you to take care, lest by setting an example of such an institution in your 
own persons, you encourage less instructed individuals among the laity to adopt 
a practice which, in their case, has almost always, I believe, been injurious. It 
is on this account, chiefly-, that with no feelings of disrespect or suspicion to- 
wards the excellent laymen who, as I understand, have joined yonr society, I 
would recommend, if my counsel has any weight, (and I offer it as my counsel 
only) that, though there is no impropriety in their taking their turns in reading 
the Scriptures, and mingling in the discussions which arise on the subjects con- 
nected with your conference, they would abstain from leading the society in 
prayer, except when the meeting is held in one of their own houses, and when, 
as master of the family, they may consistently offer up what will then be their 
family devotion. 

I would, lastly, recommend to you earnestly, that both your discussions and 
your prayers have, as their leading object, the success of missions, and the 
means whereby missions may, with God's blessing, be rendered successful ; and 
that you would deviate as little as possible into other fields of ecclesiastical 
enquiry. 

With these precautions, I trust that immingled good may, through His blessing 
who is the God of peace and order, emanate from }-our religious conferences. 

With reference to the employment of laymen to officiate in your congregation, 
I would say that where a missionary is as yet unable to read prayers, or preach 
in the language of his hearers, he may unquestionably employ a native assist- 
ant to do both, provided the prayers are those of our Church, and the discourse 
a translation from his own dictation or writing. The use of interpreters is not 
only sanctioned by the necessity of the case, but by the express authority of 
Scripture and Ecclesiastical History. And even where this necessity has not 
existed, but where any convenience has been obtained either by priest or people, 
it has been always the custom of the Church to admit lay-catechists (under the 
direction of the Minister) to read the Scriptures, to give out Psalms, to repeat 
the Creeds, and even when any convenience results from it, the Litany down to 
the Lord's Prayer, and the following Collects which the Rubric assigns to the 
Priest. It is hardly necessary to observe, that, both in this and the preceding 
case, the Absolution must not be read, nor must the Sacraments be administer- 
ed, by any but the regularly ordained Minister. 

To your questions respecting Baptism, I reply, 

1st, We are not, as I conceive, allowed to baptize the infant child of heathen 
parents when there is reason to fear that such child will be brought up in hea- 
thenism. 

2nd, We may not even baptize the infant child of heathen parents on the pro- 
mise of such parents to procure for it a Christian education, unless security of 
some kind is actually given for its adoption, and removal from its parents' cor- 
rupt example, by its sponsor, or some other Christian. 

3rd, We may, I apprehend, baptize the children of a Christian father by a 
heathen mother, though they are living together unmarried, provided the father 
declares his intention of ffivin^ his child a Christian education, and there are 
sufficient sponsors to add their promises to that of the parent. My reason for 
this decision is, that, as no professed Christian, however wicked his life, is be- 
yond the outward means of grace, and the Lord may, for all we know, have 
still merciful purposes concerning him, so we cannot for the father's sin exclude 
the child from that promise which is made to the children, and the chidren's 



182 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



particularly with reference to the Bishop's College at Calcutta ; 
previous to this he went to hear the Tamul service in the Portu- 

children of believers. But where the mother is Christian, and not the father, 
it is doubtful whether she may have sufficient property in, or authority over her 
child, to ensure it a Christian bringing up. Nor is it a point on which the pro- 
mise of a heathen father can be received as sufficient ; its actual adoption, there- 
fore, by some Christian friend or sponsor, must in this last case be stipulated for. 

4th, The same principle appears to apply to cases when one only of a mar- 
ried couple is a professing Christian ; though here some latitude of discretion 
may be allowed, in cases of danger of death, of extreme maternal solicitude, 
of known good character on the believing mother's side, and the known pro- 
bability that may exist, that her wishes, and the endeavours of the sponsors, 
will not be frustrated in her infant's education. 

5th, The case of nominal Christians notoriously addicted to heathen practices, 
must depend, in part, on the nature and extent of the evil ; and still more on 
the character and sufficiency of the sponsors. Mere idolatrous or superstitious 
habits in the parents, if not attended with open apostacy, cannot exclude the 
infant when properly vouched for from another quarter. The parent, however 
blinded and sinful, has not lost the external privileges of Christianity, and the 
infant cannot be deprived of a privilege which the parent has not forfeited. 

6th, The same rule will apply yet more strongly to Christians of whom we 
know no further harm, than their ignorance and neglect of public worship. 

7th, It will have been already seen that we have no right to refuse baptism 
to children actually adopted by Christians, provided those or other Christians 
become their securities. 

/ 8th, With regard to the case of children thus adopted when past the age of 
six years, and on the marks of conversion which may then be required in them, 
it appears that at this age a child who has not, from its earliest infancy, enjoyed 
a Christian education can seldom know much of Christianity. Such may be 
admitted as infants, with proper sponsors, and it may very often be desirable 
thus to admit them. It is not easy to fix an age at which infancy ceases, which 
, must depend on intellect, opportunity, and many other considerations. In 
' subjects capace," conversion is doubtless required ; and where capacity may 
be soon expected, it is generally desirable to wait. But in cases of sickness, or 
where any good or charitable end is answered by the immediate baptism of such 
children, and where, as before, sufficient securities are present, it appears that 
we are not warranted in denying them God's ordinance. 

9th, The church of Rome, though grievously corrupted, is nevertheless a 
part of the visible church of Christ ; we may not therefore repel the children 
of such parents from baptism, if they are vouched for by their sponsors ift the 
words of our service ; which it may be noticed are wisely so framed, as to 
contain nothing but those points on which all Christians are engaged. The 
direction at the end to teach our church Catechism, is a counsel from us to the 
sponsors, no engagement entered into by them. It follows, that we are not to 
refuse baptism to the children of Roman Catholic parents, with sufficient Pro- 
testant sponsors ; I even doubt whether we are at liberty even with sponsors of 
their parents' sect. 

But in all these questions I cannot forber observing, that we may remark the 
wisdom of that primitive institution (which our Church has wisely retained) 
of godfathers and godmothers, as affording a way of receiving into the flock of 
Christ, those children for whose education their own parents cannot satisfacto- 
rily answer. An ignorant or immoral father may be himself, for the present, 
irreclaimable ; but we may always insist that the sureties whom he adduces 
should be competently informed, and of a life not openly immoral. And though 
the decay of discipline in our own country has grievously impaired the value 
of such sponsors, yet a missionary among the heathen both may and ought in 
ihis respect to exercise a sound discretion, both examining with mildness, in- 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



183 



guese church, and I accompanied him, between the English ser- 
vices, to the Cingalese church, in both which he pronounced the 
benediction in the respective languages. The Dutch church, in 
which the Cingalese service is performed, is verj handsome in- 
ternally as well as externally. The language is not a pleasant one ; 
it is read in a recitative tone, and the use of the affixes which I 
have mentioned, added to its being in itself a volumnious language, 
made the service extremely long. The congregation was not 
numerous : for some reason, the church had been shut up for a 
few weeks, and the notice given was too short to allow of a larger 
number being assembled. It was composed principally of the 
Moodeliers of Colombo, the children of a small school, some of 
the lower classes, and four or five very pretty girls, evidently of 
good families. Their dress in shape resembled that worn by the 
Portuguese Christians in Calcutta ; but the petticoat and loose 
body were made of the finest muslin and silk, trimmed with lace, 
while their long black hair was turned up a la Grecque, and fas- 
tened with gold ornaments. The Ayahs who attended them had 
ornaments of similar shapes, but made of silver or tortoise-shell. 
These girls amused themselves, during the greater part of the ser- 
vice, by playing with their rings, and beckoning to their attend- 
ants either to talk to them, to re-arrange some part of their dress, 
or to pick up their rings when they fell, quite unchecked by a 
respectable old governante who was with them, and who, as well 
as the rest of the congregation, appeared very devout and attentive. 

September 12. — The Bishop attended a meeting in Colombo, 
for the purpose of establishing a new committee of the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel ; and we afterwards dined at the 
king's house. Mr. Glenie has very kindly given us the use of a 
pretty little open carriage of his own invention, in which we make 
many excur^ns ; we have also the daily use of the governor's 
saddle-horses, and Emily has a quiet poney for her riding. 

September 12. — The Bishop held a confirmation, which was 
very numerously attended both by natives and Europeans ; unfor- 
tunately, I was too unwell to attend it, or to join the clergy who 
•lined with us afterwards ; but he was much pleased with the num- 
ber, appearance, and behaviour of the candidates; the Malay 
girls, in their long flowing white veils, formed a particularly in- 
forming with patience, and with firmness and temper deciding on the know- 
ledge, faith, and holiness of those who themselves undertake to be the guides 
of the blind, and to sow the seeds of knowledgs, holiness, and faith, in the 
hearts of the young candidates for salvation. 

That God, my reverend brethren, may increase and strengthen you in these 
and all other gifts of his Spirit through his Son, and that both here and here- 
after his blessings may largely follow your labours, is the prayer of 

Your affectionate Friend and Servant, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



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JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



teresting groupe, and they all seemed much impressed with the 
ceremony. 

Sept. 14. — We set out at four o'clock this morning on an excur- 
sion to Candy, leaving Emily, by Dr. FarrePs advice, at St. Se- 
bastian, (the name of our bungalow) the country through which 
we were to travel being at all times of the year rather unfavora- 
ble to delicate constitutions. Sir Edward Barnes drove the Bishop 
in his bandy, Mr. Robinson and I went in a palanqueen carriage, 
and we were accompanied by Captains Hamilton and Dawson, 
the Governor's aids-de-camp, Messrs. Glenie, Wilmot, and Lay- 
ard, either in bandies or on horseback. About five miles from 
Colombo we crossed a bridge of boats over the river, which is 
here of some width ; this bridge, as well as the various rest-houses 
and the whole line of road, was ornamented with palm branches, 
fruit, flowers, &c. in the same manner as I have before described. 
The country, for about twenty-live miles, is flat and cultivated, 
but the parts immediately adjoining the road are covered with a 
mass of trees and shrubs, through which we could only have an 
occasional view ; the richness of the verdure, the variety of foliage, 
and the brilliancy of flowers, however, amply made up for the 
want of a more extensive prospect. At a rest-house called Vean- 
godde, we breakfasted, — it is an upper-roomed bungalow, with a 
deep verandah all round, and though merely composed of palm- 
branches and leaves, very sufficiently durable. Smaller bunga- 
lows were built round it for the accommodation of single men. 
Here, for the first time since I left England, I saw honey in the 
comb ; it is found in the forest in great abundance, and is made 
by a small black bee. The Moodelier of this district, Don Solo- 
mon Dias Benderlee, had exercised his ingenuity in ornamenting 
the large bungalow, as well as in erecting a square of four arches 
in the road before it, in a more elaborate manner than usual. The 
effect was really beautiful. The Bishop and I made some sketches, 
and as we wished to have a distant view of the place, a shed was 
actually built for us, and a road cut through the jungle to it, in 
less than half an hour. The celerity with which these palm build- 
ings are erected is quite extraordinary ; for our present purpose, 
it was merely a roof of leaves on four posts ; but it is the custom 
in travelling to give notice to the different Moodeliers, whose 
business it is to have bungalows built, which answer extremely 
well for a temporary lodging, though of course in the rains they 
soon fall to pieces, so cheap is labour in this island, and so ingeni- 
ous are the natives in such kinds of work. On leaving Vean- 
godde, the country rises gradually, and becomes more and more 
beautiful every mile ; the hills in the interior are steep and lofty, 
and covered with verdure to their very summits. I more than 
once fancied they were crowned with ruins, from the singular 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 135 

effect produced by parasitical plants, which grow in the wildest 
luxuriance, flinging their branches from one tree to another, each 
of which they in turn destroy, till they form themselves into the 
shapes of arches, towers, and ruins of all kinds ; several of these 
creepers had, I observed, stretched a solitary branch a distance of 
about a hundred yards, which had grown to the size of a man's 
body, and assumed the appearance of twisted cords, but although 
near the ground, was quite unsupported in its progress from the 
stem of one tree to its neighbour. These plants add so much to 
the beauty of the scenery, that one easily forgives the destruction 
they occasion. From the midst of this verdure, large masses of 
rock are occasionally projected ; but it is quite impossible to de- 
scribe the scenery. I was occasionally reminded of the opening 
into the vale of Llangollen, and the new road at Wynnstay ; and 
I hardly knew to which to give the preference. Here, indeed, we 
miss the Dee, though there is a small river, now barely visible, 
which during the rains increases to a considerable size, and foams 
and tumbles over its rocky bed ; but the extent of the same kind 
of country is much greater; the hills are higher, and the magnifi- 
cence of the trees, and general beauty of the foliage and flowers, 
far surpass any thing in my native land. I looked in vain for a 
wild elephant; these animals are driven by the approach of man 
further into the interior, and seldom appear, except at night, when 
it is reckoned dangerous to travel without an escort and lights. 
Formerly there was an elephant hunt every year, when numbers 
were taken and purchased for purposes of state by the petty Rajas 
in western and central India ; but since their power has ceased, 
the demand for them no longer exists, and their numbers increase 
so much as to be very destructive to the rice fields. Elephant 
shooting is a favourite amusement with the European inhabitants, 
and a good shot will bring one down with a single iron bullet. It 
is, however, dangerous to fire with one barrel only loaded, as 
should the animal be wounded it turns upon its pursuer ; and, un- 
less assistance is at hand, the consequences are generally fatal. 
In one instance of the sort, however, after the poor man had been 
tossed to some distance by the elephant's trunk, and had actually 
felt the pressure of its knee upon his body, some unknown cause 
induced it to change its mind, and it walked off, leaving the man 
but little hurt. An acquaintance of ours saved his life under simi- 
lar circumstances, by dodging from one tree to another, till he 
was within reach of help, his own native servants, though with 
weapons in their hands, having ran away on seeing his danger. 
A herd is seldom formidable unless attacked ; but it is very dan- 
gerous to fall in with an old male animal, living by himself. There 
are very few used in the island either for military purposes, or for 
riding, the expense of keeping them is so great ; they are small, 



186 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 

but are reckoned stronger and more hardy than those on the Con- 
tinent, and are generally better tempered. The Cingalese, indeed, 
affect to say that their superiority is acknowledged by all other 
elephants, who salam to them as they pass. 

The new road from Colombo to Candy has been recently 
opened by Sir E. Barnes, and indeed is not yet quite completed. 
It is a noble work, and has been executed with immense labour, 
as well from the nature of the country, as the almost impenetra- 
ble jungle through which it passes. Captain Dawson was three 
months in tracing the line, and frequently gave up the work in 
despair ; — he had often to creep along the beds of torrents, to 
enable him to make any progress through the mass of underwood 
with which the mountains are covered. The country is very 
unhealthy, and during the greater part of the year it is reckoned 
unsafe even to travel through it. Before the road was opened, it 
was a work of six or seven days to go from Colombo to Candy ; 
it may now be done with ease, having relays of horses, in one, 
and the danger of sleeping by the way is avoided. The old 
road lay through the seven Codes, a distance of eighty-five miles, 
through a tract more open, but far more unhealthy. It is singular 
that it is not where the jungle is thickest that malaria most pre- 
vails, but the banks of rivers running swift and clear over a rocky 
bottom, are more liable to fever than any other places. In a 
valley, near the road side, I saw a Cobra Guana ; it is an animal 
of the lizard kind, with a very long tail, so closely resembling an 
alligator, that T at first mistook it for one, and was surprised to 
see a herd of buffaloes grazing peacefully round it. It is per- 
fectly harmless, but if attacked will give a man a severe blow 
with its tail. Sir Edward Barnes told me that its flesh is reckon- 
ed a delicacy in the West Indies. 

At Warakapole, about half way from Colombo, we were met 
by a very extraordinary personage, the second Adigar of Candy, 
followed by a numerous retinue, and preceded by one man carry- 
ing a crooked silver rod, and by another with a long whip, which 
he cracked at times with great vehemence : this is considered a 
mark of dignity among the Candians. There are two " Adigars," 
or ministers, the first of whom is entitled to have nine, and the 
second seven, of these whips cracked before him whenever he 
goes out ; but since our conquest of their province their dignity 
has diminished, and they can no longer afford so many noisy at- 
tributes of rank. This man was very handsomely dressed, but 
his costume certainly the most extraordinary I ever saw ; his tur- 
ban, for here men begin to cover their heads, was richly orna- 
mented with gold, intended to resemble a crown, but far more 
like an old toilette pincushion, a white muslin body, with im- 
mense sleeves, like wings, ornamented with gold buttons a dra- 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



187 



pery of gold-flowered muslin, a broad gold band round his waist, 
and, as rank is here marked by the quantity as well as quality of 
their dress, he wore the finest muslin, swelled out round the hips 
by six or seven topettees, put on one above the other, which in- 
creased them to an immense circumference, while his hands were 
covered with rings of rubies, set in a circle of more than two 
inches in diameter. Sir Edward Barnes and the Bishop got out 
to meet him, and shake him by both hands, and the former then 
brought him to me for the same ceremony. He was carried in a 
dhoolie, richly ornamented, and followed us to Ootian Candy, 
where we dined and slept. 

For the latter part of the way we had to ascend a steep hill 
amid mountain scenery of great magnificence ; the rocks on the 
summits of the highest had all the appearance of fortresses, and 
the deception was, in one instance, singularly heightened by the 
circumstance of one of the creepers I mentioned having thrown 
itself across a chasm just below the walls of the imaginary for- 
tress, like a draw-bridge. The valleys between the hills are cul- 
tivated with rice ; and indeed it is in these mountainous regions, 
1 am told, that the greatest quantity is grown, on account of the 
facilities they afford for irrigation. The fields in which it is sown 
are dammed up, and form a succession of terraces, the plant in 
each, perhaps, being in a different stage of growth. Sometimes 
the water is conveyed for a mile or two along the side of a moun- 
tain, and it is let off from one terrace to another, as the state of 
the grain requires it. The verdure of the young rice is parti- 
cularly fine, and the fields are really a beautiful sight when sur- 
rounded by and contrasted with the magnificent mountain scenery. 
The island, however, does not produce rice enough for its own 
consumption, and a good deal is annually imported from Bengal. 

I have observed that all the bridges on this road which are 
finished, are covered over, and furnished with benches, forming 
a kind of serai for the foot passenger ; a most humane plan in 
such a country as this. 

At Ootian Candy we found several bungalows just built ; that 
allotted to us consisted of three good-sized rooms, verandahd ah 
round, but the night was hot, and we got little sleep. 

September 15. — The carriages and horses having been sent on 
to cross the river on rafts, we followed at a very early hour in 
palanqueens, and after passing it, mounted our horses to ride up 
a long and steep pass. The road, which must have been con- 
structed with immense labour, winds up the side of a mountain 
covered with thick jungle and magnificent forest trees ; among 
the latter, the ebony-tree, the iron and the thief-trees were point- 
ed out to us ; the former with a tall, black, slender stem spotted 
with white; the iron-tree black and hard, as its name denotes ; 

Vol. IT.— 24 



188 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



and the last, rising with a straight white stem to a great height, 
singularly contrasted with the deep verdure round it ; it bears no 
branches till the very top, when it throws out a few irregular 
stag-shaped boughs. A great deal of the furniture in Ceylon is 
made of ebony, as well as of the calamander tree, a few of which 
were pointed out to us, but which is become scarce from the im- 
provident use formerly made of it. The thief-tree is good for 
nothing but fuel. There were many other varieties, but their 
native names have escaped my memory. These woods swarm 
with monkeys of every sort, which we saw and heard in all di- 
rections. A small black monkey, a larger one, with a white face, 
and a very small and pretty white one, are the most common. 

From this part of the road, Adam's Peak, lying to the east, is 
visible ; it is the highest mountain in Ceylon, about 8000 feet 
above the level of the sea, and has seldom been ascended, not so 
much from its height as from the difficulty of the latter part of 
the ascent, which is quite perpendicular ; two ladies, however, 
have been among the few adventurers, and got up by means of 
chains and pullies. The Mussulmans have a tradition that Adam, 
when driven out of Paradise, alighted upon the Peak, and a mark, 
which bears a resemblance to a human foot, is supposed to be 
the impression made by him while expatiating his crime, by 
standing on one foot till his sins were forgiven. 

About two-thirds of the way up this pass, called Kadooganarvon, 
we breakfasted in a spot of singular and romantic beauty, of which 
I endeavoured to convey some idea in a sketch, but it is scenery 
to which only a very good oil painting can do justice. We were 
here met by other Candians, of inferior rank to the Adigar, as de- 
noted by their inferior number of petticoats, but with the same 
sort of costume ; one named Looko Banda was on horseback, and 
accompanied us the remaining part of the way ; he was quite an 
eastern dandj^, rode well, and was, evidently, proud of his horse- 
manship, but his flowing garments were ill adapted for riding. In 
the days of the Kings of Candy, horses were an appendage to roy- 
alty, and none were found in their territories save in the royal 
stables. After breakfast we remounted, and proceeded to the top 
of the pass, from whence the view towards Candy was superb ; 
but the sun had now been for some hours above the horizon, and 
we were glad to get into the shelter of our carriages. Three miles 
farther we again crossed a river in boats ; the scenery in this val- 
ley had lost much of its magnificent character, but it was very 
pretty, dry, comparatively free from jungle, and cultivated, the 
river running over a bed of rock, and yet it is one of the most 
deadly spots in the neighbourhood during the unhealthy season. 
Near this place are the botanical gardens, which we hope to see 
on our return. On the opposite bank we were met by the first 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 139 

Adigar in great splendour, preceded by the silver rod, two men 
cracking their whips, and followed by a suwarree of elephants, 
music and dancers ;. one of the elephants was kept at a distance, 
being mad, as they termed it, meaning that lie would immediately 
attack his companions if suffered to come near them. 

A distance of three miles brought us to Candy, surrounded by 
woody hills, some two thousand feet high. The town is larger 
than I expected, the streets broad and handsome, though at pres- 
ent only formed by native houses. On this occasion they were 
lined with plaintain-trees, bearing fruit, and decorated with flags 
and flowers, which gave the town a very gay appearance. We 
were met at its entrance by the principal European inhabitants, 
and drove up to a small cluster of bungalows, dignified by the 
name of the " Pavilion," being the residence of the Governor. 
The principal of these buildings is a remarkable pretty room of a 
circular form, connected with the others by covered walks, now 
beautifully decorated with .flowers of various sorts, especially that 
of the areka, a sweet-scented palm. — We were here introduced 
to the officers of the station, and then went to the house of Mr. 
Sawers, the collector of the district, who had asked us to be his 
guests during our stay in Candy. 

The town of Candy is reckoned healthy, as well as the country 
for about a mile around; beyond which the Europeans seldom ex- 
tend their drives ; the river Malavigonga almost surrounds it ; and 
the malaria, as I have before observed, is peculiarly felt on the 
shores of rivers. I should think, however, that the great changes 
in the temperature must be unfriendly to many constitutions ; and, 
indeed, I have since been told that pulmonary complaints are fre- 
quent. After an extremely hot day, the night was so cold as to 
make a good blanket, and sleeping with closed windows, very de- 
sirable, and even then T awoke chilly. The house we were in, a 
lower-roomed one, stands at the foot of a hill covered with jungle, 
in which I heard parrots, monkeys, and jungle fowl ; it also abounds 
with the smaller beasts of prey, and Mr. Sawers told me, that the 
night before our arrival, he was awoke by some animal scratch- 
ing at his door, which he supposed was a dog, but the track through 
his garden in the morning proved it to have been a " cheta," or 
small leopard. The royal tyger is not found in the island, but 
bears, leopards, hyaenas, jackalls, and tyger-cats, are numerous, 
besides elks, wild hogs, buffaloes, deer, &c. &c. ; and near Jaffna, 
at the northern extremity, a large baboon is very common and 
fearless. An acquaintance of ours having, on one occasion, shot 
at a young one, the mother came boldly up and wrested the gun 
out of his hand without doing him any injury. The ouran-outang 
is unknown. 

September 16. — We were visited by all the European society of 



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JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



the city, and by many of the Candian chiefs in their extraordinary 
state dresses ; a drawing given me by Looko Banda, and done by 
himself, shewing a good deal of uncultivated genius, represents 
them in three different costumes, but even in the undress, preserv- 
ing the same enormous circumference of hip, as on state occasions. 
The Bishop had a deputation of the Bhuddist priests to wait upon 
him, of various ages, and all dressed in long yellow robes, their 
sacred colour, with the right arm and shoulder bare, and. their 
heads and eyebrows closely shaven. Not long ago, these holy 
men would not enter a room with a woman, or even look at her 
if they met by accident; now, however, they are not so scrupu- 
lous ; and although the elder of the party, who seemed the princi- 
pal, never turned his eyes towards me, his followers looked at me 
over the round fan, which they all carried, with much curiosity. 
The Bishop, by means of an interpreter, held a long conversation 
with them, and ascertained that they were of the same sect with 
the Jains, whose temples he had frequently visited in various parts 
of India, and which he had always suspected, though the latter 
had denied their identity. The senior priest read, or rather chant- 
ed a few lines out of one of their sacred books ; in sound it is rather 
a pleasing language, but almost all their principal words end in a 
burden of hum, hum, hum, musical certainly, but excessively 
tedious. 

I have been much interested by an account I have just heard 
of a tribe of wild men, called the " Veddahs," or hunters, who 
live in the recesses of the forests ; they are found in various parts, 
but are most numerous in the district of Vedahratte, from whence 
they derive their name, on the south-east side, towards Trinco- 
malee ; there are, it seems, two tribes of these people, the village 
and the forest Veddah, but they profess to hold no intercourse 
with each other. Those of the forest live entirely by the chase 
and on fruits, and never cultivate the ground ; they have no habi- 
tations, but usually sleep under the trees, and, when alarmed, 
climb them for safety ; they use bows and arrows, and steal up 
close to their game before they shoot ; they track the animal, if 
only wounded, by its blood, till they come sufficiently near to 
take him a second time. As the forests abound with deer, &c, 
they live well, and some of caste will occasionally come down 
into the villages to barter their game for rice, iron, and cloth ; their 
language is a dialect of the Cingalese ; they believe in evil spirits, 
but have no notion of a God, or of a state of future rewards and 
punishments, and consider it a matter of perfect indifference 
whether they do evil or good. The Village Veddahs have many 
traits in common with their more savage brethren, but they live in 
huts, and cultivate the ground, though they also seek their princi- 
pal subsistence in the forests. In themselves they are a peacea- 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. jgj 

ble tribe, never commencing, but easily prevailed on to join in any 
insurrection, and during the Candian sovereignty, were frequently 
employed as mercenary troops in commotions in the interior. Sir 
Edward Barnes made an attempt to civilize the wilder tribe, by 
having some of them brought down into the plains, giving them 
food, clothes, &c. ; he also gave prizes for the best shot among 
them with a bow and arrow, but they seldom hit the mark even 
at a moderate distance ; their custom of stealing close upon their 
prey before they shoot will account for this. Although these men 
liked their treatment so much as to he unwilling to return to 
their forests, no further good seems to have followed from the 
experiment. 

We took a very beautiful ride this evening, setting out by the 
borders of a small lake near the centre of the town, which is said 
in a great measure to occasion its salubrity ; it was formed out of 
a morass by the last king. A quarter of an hour's ride brought us 
to one of the most magnificent and striking views which I ever 
beheld ; an immense amphitheatre lay before u^:, of which the 
boundaries were lofty mountains of every form, covered more than 
half way to their summits with foliage ; Doomberra Peak, (its na- 
tive name is Hoonisgirikandy,) about 6000 feet high, lay partly 
buried in clouds ; the plain beneath us was like the most cultivated 
park scenery, with the river running over rocks through its cen- 
tre ; the only thing wanted to complete the picture, and which the 
eye sought in vain, was a vestige of human life ; nothing but an oc- 
casional Hindoo temple was to be seen, in places where noble- 
men's seats might well have stood. Native huts there doubtless 
were ; for, besides that the Candian district is populous, the coco- 
palm, of which a few clumps were seen, pointed them out; vil- 
lages are universally marked by these trees, which are not, else- 
where, common in the province, but till one is close upon them, 
the huts are not to be distinguished from the surrounding jungle, 
so that the whole country looked like a glorious desert. The 
banks of the river, along which we rode some distance, are here, 
as elsewhere, the most productive of fever ; it is called the " Can- 
dian fever," and appears to be an intermittent, which arrives at 
its height on the eleventh dav, and like all others of the sort in a 
tropical climate, is liable to return at any period. Beyond the 
mountains, the country is even said to be more baneful and dan- 
gerous to travel through ; but, from the want of roads, little inter- 
course is kept up further in the interior. We returned home long 
after the sun had set, which here is speedily followed by darkness, 
our road illuminated by myriads of fire-flies, larger and more bril- 
liant than any which I have before seen in India ; accustomed as 
I have now been for two years to these insects, I could not avoid 
a momentary start as they lit upon me, so perfectly do they re- 



192 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 

semble sparks of fire. The air, after very great heat, had cooled 
so rapidly, as to make me glad to button up my habit, but it was 
very delightful, and I have not often enjoyed a ride more. 

We dined in the king's palace with Mr. and Mrs. Downing ; 
this is a very long low building, at the extremity of the town, 
painted white, with stone gateways ; its front extending nearly 
200 yards ; a hexagonal building of two stories terminates it at 
one end, in which we were received ; the rooms we saw are small 
and low, with curious grotesque figures carved on the walls. Here 
the monarch used to shew himself in state to his people, with a 
wife on either hand, for though the Candian females of rank have 
seldom been seen by Europeans, they were not before the con- 
quest kept in seclusion. At the other end of the palace are the 
women's apartments. 

The horrible practice of female infanticide still prevails in some 
districts in the island; in the last general census taken in 1821, 
the number of males exceeded by 20,000 that of females ; in one 
district there were to every hundred men but fifty -five women, 
and in those parts where the numbers were equal, the population 
was almost exclusively Mussulman. The strange custom of one 
woman having two, or even more, husbands, and the consequent 
difficulty of marrying their daughters, in a country where to live 
single is disgraceful, seem to be the causes of this unnatural cus- 
tom. An astrologer is consulted on the birth of a female child, 
and if he pronounces her to have been born under evil auspices, 
she is exposed alive in the woods, to be destroyed by beasts of 
prey or by ants, generally, I was happy to hear, without the con- 
sent of the mother. 

September 17. — We visited this morning some of the Buddhist 
temples ; the principal one, which contains the recumbent figure 
of Buddh, is a square building, with sixteen pillars of masonry sup- 
porting the roof. The figure is of a colossal size, about thirty feet 
long, cut out of the rock, and there are several small figures placed 
round it, some in the common attitude of sitting with the legs 
crossed, others standing; many of them are painted a bright yel- 
low, and the ceiling and walls are also of the most glaring colours ; 
strong smelling flowers were, as usual, ranged as an offering be- 
fore the image, and in the same row with the smaller ones were 
placed two bells, the sacred symbol, covered up with great care. 
Although the priests touched them with reverence, they shewed 
no reluctance to uncover them for our gratification. 

Adjoining this is a smaller temple, enclosing another image of 
Buddh, in the sitting posture, of human proportions, and carved 
with considerable skill ; the countenance is pleasing, with some 
resemblance to the Cingalese. Many images surround him in re- 
lief ; one is of Siva, with four arms and his usual attributes of the 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 193 

lotus and the cobra de capello ; some crocodiles surrounding the 
figure of Buddh would seem to prove a connection between his 
worship and the Egyptian idolatry. The Cingalese colour the sta- 
tues of their gods, and give a pupil to the eye, which last ceremony 
is supposed to confer a superior degree of holiness, and is done 
with much mystery and solemnity. Some smaller figures of Buddh 
are very neatly executed in brass and copper ; indeed the natives 
seem to have a remarkable talent for carving, considering how 
very few their opportunities of improvement can be. 

In another temple we were shewn, with extraordinary reve- 
rence, some relics of bone taken out of Raja Singh's tomb at the 
time of our occupation of Candy, when all the royal tombs were 
broken open, and gold and jewels of considerable value found. 
The cemetery immediately adjoins this temple ; the tombs are of 
stone, meanly enough sculptured, and much injured by the vio- 
lence used in forcing them open ; the Kings' and Queens' stand on 
opposite sides, and there is little to recommend the spot except 
some noble peepul-trees overhanging the tombs, which prove the 
royal family to have been Hindoos. The temples in Candy are 
very numerous, as they were considered indispensable appendages 
to great men's houses ; lights are kept burning in the greater num- 
ber, and the heat added to the strong perfume of the flowers makes 
it very unpleasant to remain in them for more than a few minutes. 
The famous one containing the tooth of Buddh we had not time 
to visit, but we were shewn a fac-simile of the precious relic, more 
like a wild beast's tusk than a hunfan tooth ; it is kept in a golden 
case, set with precious stones, and this fe enclosed within four others, 
all of gold and increasing in size, and all studded with jewels ; no 
relic was evermore sumptuously enshrined, or more devoutly wor- 
shipped. When we obtained possession of it, the Candians sub- 
mitted quietly to our rule, believing that its owners have an un- 
disputed title to their crown. 

Adjoining the lake, in the centre of the town, is a Buddhist 
college, where forty priests live under strict discipline, chiefly oc- 
cupied in religious duties and in teaching ; their houses are of the 
best sort in Candy, of one story, with clay walls and tiled. Two 
temples and a large room for their meetings are within the enclo- 
sure of the monastery, the roof of the latter of which is supported 
by immense pillars, each of a single stone, near twenty feet high, 
i From within these walls, which are close to Mr. Sawer's house, 
the sounds of the tom-tom and gongs beat in honour of the idol, 
are perpetually heard. 

But to return to our morning's excursion : from the cemetery 
we visited the new Mission-school, just erected, on a hill imme- 
diately opposite to it, under the care of Mr. Browning, the only 
Missionary at present here ; the Bishop heard the children read 



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JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



and repeat their lessons in English, Malabar, and Cingalese ; he 
was exceedingly pleased with their progress, and with the esta- 
blishment altogether; it was, indeed, an interesting sight ; the chil- 
dren looked happy, anxious to say their lessons, and very proud 
when they received commendation. There was one little boy 
who particularly attracted my attention by the eager way in which, 
after the Bishop had examined him, he brought his book to me. 
I could only understand the English, but this he read fluently, and 
appeared to understand. The situation of the achool is well chosen, 
and very beautiful ; and the whole establishment the Bishop con- 
sidered as well conducted, and of great promise. There are two 
other schools, altogether containing from 85 to 90 children, which 
1 was too much tired to accompany the Bishop to visit : he spoke 
favourably of both. 

In the evening we accompanied the Governor to the tunnel 
which he had recently had cut through a hill of a considerable 
height, over which the road was formerly carried from the ferry 
into Candy. Its length is nearly 500 feet, with sufficient height 
and width to admit of carriages passing through it. From thence 
we descended to the river, through most beautiful scenery. It 
really is melancholy to see so lovely a country rendered almost 
uninhabitable during the greatest part of the year, in some places 
even to the natives, by the pestilential malaria. We passed the 
ruins of a small village, which an engineer officer told me was last 
year entirely dispeopled by fever. He had built it for the accom- 
modation of a gang of workmen, who were employed in erecting 
a bridge: and on his return,%fter a very short absence, found it a 
desert, all its inhabitants having either died, or fled to preserve 
their lives. Most of the workmen employed by government here 
are CafFres. The first generation appear to stand the climate well, 
but their children are very liable to pulmonary affections. From 
the river we ascended by a pathway barely four feet wide, which 
led us a distance of two miles round the side of a hill till we 
emerged again on the great road leading to Colombo. This path 
is cut through thick jungle, with the river running through the 
valley, which is here very narrow, at a considerable depth below 
us. It was extremely beautiful, but the passing through so thick a 
mass of foliage affected me towards the end of the ride with a feel- 
ing of sickness and suffocation, which gave me a very good notion 
of what the country must be during the unhealthy season. Re- 
passing the tunnel, Sir Edward Barnes made the Caffras set up a 
yell, which reverberating against its roof and sides, had a most 
savage wild effect. Again we were lit home by fire-flies, and I saw 
a solitary glow-worm, of a size and brilliancy far exceeding those ~ 
of England : they are not common in India. 

We met a large party at the Pavilion in the evening. The 



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195 



Candian market is miserably supplied ; poultry is nearly all im- 
ported from Goa and Cochin ; sheep soon rot and die off in the 
luxuriant pasture ; and beef, though in most places reckoned fine, 
is not always good here. The woods supply them with venison 
and game of all sorts, but the former is seldom fat. In the Gover- 
nor's garden a few English vegetables are brought to some perfec- 
tion, but, generally speaking, even here they succeed ill ; and the 
top of the coco-palm is the only good indigenous one I have seen, 
and as this is very costly, the tree being killed by cutting it off, 
it of course is not common. 

We have seen a few of the Talypot palms, but not in blossom ; 
the circumference of a single leaf, of which the fans I mentioned 
are made, is often from twenty-five to thirty feet. A branch of 
the blossom was brought to me ; it resembles that of the palm 
tribe in general, and is curious merely from the circumstance of 
the tree never flowering till it is fifty years old, and immediately 
after dying. 

September 18, Sunday. — Early this morning the Bishop held a 
confirmation ; there were seven native candidates, and twenty Eu- 
ropeans ; and he afterwards preached at the usual time of morn- 
ing service. There is no church, but the Hall of Audience, where 
the Kings of Candy held their courts, is used as such ; it is a long 
room, of which the wooden pillars, having the lotus carved on 
their capitals, are the only ornamental parts remaining. It was a 
most interesting and affecting sight, to see Christian worship per- 
formed, and a Christian bishop blessing his congregation, a part 
of which was native, in the very spot where the most horrid cru- 
elties were exercised not more than ten years ago. How little 
could such an event at that time have been contemplated ! Even- 
ing service was performed here for the first time, and by the 
Bishop's desire, it is to be continued. Mr. Perring, the colonial 
Chaplain, preached. The mission has been established about six 
years. 

After church, I rode with Sir Edward Barnes to the spot where 
the massacre of two hundred Europeans took place, immediately 
before the final conquest of Candy. Major Davies, the officer 
commanding the corps, had on evacuating the town, a measure in 
itself, Sir Edward Barnes said, improper and unnecessary, stipula- 
ted that the men should be allowed to cross the country in safety 
to Trincomalee, and that the king should provide them with 
boats to pass the river. On arriving at its borders, however, no 
boats were to be seen, and it was then further insisted on, that 
the soldiers should lay down their arms. To this condition Ma- 
jor Davies was infatuated enough to consent, although their pre- 
vious conduct had given him ample reason to suspect the good 
faith of government. The result was such as might have been 

Vol. II.- 25 



196 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



anticipated : the men, with the exception of two, who escaped 
wounded to Trincomalee, were all massacred. Major Davies's 
life was spared, from a kind of honourable feeling, as being the 
individual with whom the treaty had been made ; but he spent 
the remainder of his life at Candy, unnoticed by the Europeans, 
and, at last, adopted the dress and habits of the natives. A half- 
caste son of his still lives in the place, supported by a small pen- 
sion from government. A large flat stone, elevated on lesser 
ones, was shewn me as the place whence the king beheld the 
massacre ; and a tree on the spot where the negociation was held, 
still bears the name of " Major Davies's tree." 

On going to the pavilion in the evening to dinner, we found a 
large bear, that had just been caught in the north of the island, 
fastened before the door ; it was black, with a long whitish snout, 
but it was too dark to examine it very minutely ; and as it was 
merely confined by a rope to a bush, which bent with the strug- 
gles it made to get loose, and roared and barked in a furious 
manner, I was not anxious to become more closely acquainted 
with it. 

Our acquaintance, Looko Banda, generally accompanied us 
on our evening rides ; he was very anxious to introduce his wives 
and daughters to me, and I was quite as much so to see them ; 
but my time had been so constantly occupied from the moment 
of my arrival, that I was obliged to leave Candy without visiting 
them. Our departure took place early in the morning of the 
19th. We rode to the Botanical Gardens, the mountains to the 
east affording shelter from the sun for some hours after he is risen, 
I saw some very curious plants, among others the Annatto shrub, 
which stains the finger a bright yellow on bruising it, and is used 
as a dye by the natives ; a species of air plant, which has no root, 
nor any visible means of obtaining nourishment, and requires to 
be merely suspended in the open air, sheltered from the sun : 
when planted, or frequently watered, it dies. The specimen I 
saw had a small brown sweet-scented blossom, and looked quite 
healthy. These gardens are only in their infancy, but very 
flourishing. The death of their superintendant, Mr. Moon, has 
for the present, put a stop to the improvement ; the situation is 
beautiful, but being near the river, is not healthy. At Ootian 
Candy we again slept, and riding to Ballypore, breakfasted at 
Veangodde, and arrived at St. Sebastian's, in a heavy storm of 
thunder and rain, about five o'clock in the evening of the 20th. 
We had the happiness of finding Emily perfectly well, and of re- 
ceiving good accounts of Harriet. We both of us enjoyed the 
excursion extremely, and only wished for time to have seen more 
of the beauties of this lovely island. 

1 was much struck with the almost total absence of small birds 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



197 



in the interior. It is supposed that serpents, with which the 
island abounds, destroy the eggs : some destructive agent of this 
kind there must be, in a place peculiarly adapted for their increase; 
and this, certainly, seems the most obvious. I saw parrots of vari- 
ous sorts, pigeons, cranes, and heard jungle-fowls and pheasants. 
Pea-fowls abound in the interior, and the honey-bird, which 
points out where the bees have built their combs, is found here. 
There are only four snakes ascertained to be poisonous ; the 
Cobra de Capello is the most common, but its bite is not so cer- 
tainly fatal as that of the Tic Polonga, which destroys life in a few 
minutes. These are fortunately scarce : experiments have been 
frequently made on the subtlety of its poison ; the first bite will kill 
a fowl in less than a minute, but frequent repetitions seem to de- 
stroy its force, and very considerable provocation is required to 
make the animal bite, as if it was sensible its power of injury was 
weakened, or even quite lost. T had a specimen given me by an 
officer at a small station between Ootian Candy and Kadoogar- 
narvon pass ; it was a young one, and had not attained the ordinary 
size of between four and five feet. Its head was nearly triangular, 
the back of it grey, and under the throat a light yellow. The 
back was regularly spotted with brown, and the tail short and ta- 
pering. It is at all times indolent, and will not attack unless it is 
irritated. The Boa Constrictor is occasionally found of the enor- 
mous length of thirty feet. The bite is not poisonous, but its size 
renders it extremely formidable, though the stories of its attacking 
so large an animal as a buffalo, or even a cheta, seem quite un- 
true : it preys upon goats, fowls, and the smaller game. Alligators, 
of a very large size, are numerous in the rivers. The flying leech, 
which I never heard of before, is very common in the jungles in 
the interior ; and the native troops, on their march to Candy, suf- 
fered very severely from their bites, occasionally even to the loss 
of life or limb : their legs were covered with them, and streamed 
with blood. I saw one of these animals on a horse's leg ; it is 
much smaller than the common leech *, the largest is, when at rest, 
not more than half an inch long, and may be extended till it be- 
comes as thin as a fine string. The smaller ones are very minute ; 
they possess the power of springing, by means of a filament, to 
a considerable distance, and are very annoying to cattle and hor- 
ses. There are also large black scorpions, lizards, cameleons, 
&c. &c and an astonishing variety of insects, with which we are, 
as yet, but imperfectly acquainted. The most curious of these 
are the leaf-insects, which assume the shape, size, and general 
appearance of the leaf on which they feed so exactly, that it is 
only on examination one become aware of their real character. 
I saw several, but the most extraordinary was one which lived 
on a thorny plant, the body of which resembled a stick, and was 



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JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



covered with thorns, like a shrub. I have had several of these 
given me; together with a black scorpion, and some other insects 
in spirits, which I hope some day or other to take home , and I 
have also collected and dried as many flowers as came within my 
reach. 

The precious stones, for which Ceylon is famous, are reckon- 
ed less valuable than those of the western continent. The em- 
erald is, perhaps, the only one not found in the island ; the amethyst 
is the most common ; and on the old road to Candy, through the 
seven corles, large pieces are often struck out by horses' hoofs, 
but they are seldom found without a flaw. The catVeye and 
the sapphire, when of a large size, are beautiful and very valuable : 
the topaz, ruby, tormaline, diamond, and various others are also 
found in most abundance in the district of Matura. A kind friend 
has procured me specimens of all in their rough state, which I 
consider a valuable acquisition. The cinnamon-stone is, I believe, 
peculiar to Ceylon, and is probably so called from its colour re- 
sembling that of the cinnamon leaf on its first appearance. The 
natives set them with great neatness, and with means apparently 
very inadequate to the work. The fruits seem to me very much 
the same as those of India, with the addition of the mangosteen, 
but this is now out of season. 

September 23. — We left Colombo* early this morning in the 

The following address from the acting Archdeacon and Clergy of Colombo, 
was sent to the bishop previous to his leaving Colombo. 

To the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Calcutta. 

May it please your Lordship, 

We, the acting Archdeacon and Clergy of this archdeaconry, acknowledge 
with thankfulness the benefits we have received from your Lordship's visitation 
of this part of your diocese. We ascribe it to the Father of lights, from whom 
every good and every perfect gift cometh, that your Lordship has been made 
his chosen instrument, as we trust, for promoting the spiritual benefit, as well 
of the Clergy over whom he has appointed you overseer, as of all orders of 
men who have come within the sphere of your Lordship's influence. 

We feel it necessary, my Lord, to restrain the full atterance of our feelings 
on this occasion, but we must beg to be allowed to express our ardent hopes 
that your devoted piety, your unwearied zeal, your judicious counsels, and your 
most conciliatory kindness, may have produced in us desires, not ineffectual, to 
press forward ourselves also in our holy vocation. 

The encouragement we have unitedly derived from your Lordship's presence 
among us, tends greatly to strengthen our hands. In the consciousness that by 
the gracious providence of our heavenly Father, we have collectively and in- 
dividually the same wise and affectionate counsellor, and in recognizing this tie 
that connects us with your Lordship, we feel more than ever that we are fellow- 
labourers together, peculiarly called upon to bear one another's burdens, and to 
provoke one another to love and to good works. 

In conclusion, my Lord, we pray that the great Shepherd and Bishop of our 
souls, may still more richly endow you with His heavenly grace, strengthening 
you for the great work to which He has called you, prolonging your valuable 
life for the good of His church and people, and at length, having honoured you 
as His servant to gather into His fold great numbers from among these eastern 



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JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



199 



Governor's carriage, having bid adieu the preceding evening to 
him and Lady Barnes, which we did with much regret, for we 
have received great and invariable kindness for both ; indeed, 
the hospitality which we have met with from the society of Co- 
lombo in general has been very gratifying ; and we look forward 
with pleasure to a renewal of our visit, which we hope to effect 
for a short period next year, if* the season should be favourable 
for a voyage to Jaffna, which the Bishop purposes visiting from 
the coast. 

At Paltura we again were driven by Mr. Rodney to Caltura, 
where, in a very pretty bungalow, belonging to Mr. Layard, com- 
manding a beautiful view of the river and the sea, we breakfasted. 
The rivers in Ceylon are very seldom navigable far inland ; during 
the dry season there is not a sufficient depth of water, and in tho 
rains they rise so rapidly from the mountain torrents, that it is dan- 
gerous to venture on them. On those near Colombo, we were 
told that some hundred flat-bottomed boats were moored for the 
purpose of fishing, in which large families resided, who had no 
other dwellings ; all the rivers and lakes, as well as the sea, abound 
with fish. We spent some hours very agreeably with Mr. Layard, 
eat our tiffin with Mr. and Mrs. Rodney, and then proceeded to 
Ben Totte, where we again passed the night. 

September 24. — Long before day-break we were on our way to 
Baddagame. At Amblangodde we breakfasted, and at Kennery 
left the main road, and wound through very narrow paths, and 
over broken bridges, scarcely passable even to a palanqueen, 
across a flat swampy country, till we arrived at the first river which 
we had crossed on leaving Galle, but some miles higher up. The 
country then improved into great beauty, and at the end of about 
two miles we came within sight of a church on the summit of a 
hill, with the house of one of the missionaries, Mr. Mayor, imme- 
diately adjoining it, and that of Mr. Ward on another eminence 
close to it, forming altogether a landscape of singular and inter- 
esting beauty. We ascended by a steep road to Mr. Mayor's 
where we found the families of the two missionaries, and some of 
our friends from Galle, awaiting our arrival. At the foot of this 
hill, the river we had recently crossed winds through what has 

nations, may give you, together with them, an abundant entrance into His hea- 
venly kingdom. 

James M. S. Glenie, Acting Archdeacon. 
H. Gartstin, Colonial Chaplain. 
A. Armour, Colonial Chaplain. 
J. H. D. Sarum, Colonial Chaplain. 
Samuel Lambrick, Church Missionary. 
Joseph Knight, Church Missionary. 
C. David, Colonial Chaplain. 
Colombo, September 22nd 1825. 



200 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 

the appearance of a richly dressed lawn, while all around rise 
mountains, one above the other to a considerable height, and in 
an endless variety of shape. On our right was the church, a very 
pretty building, and behind us stood Mr. Ward's house. The 
whole scene was peculiarly interesting. Here we found two very 
young men, with their wives and children, separated from all Eu- 
ropean society by many miles of country impassable, save in two 
directions, even to palanqueens, devoting themselves entirely to 
the service of their Maker, in spreading his religion among the 
heathen, and in the education of their families. The two families, 
indeed, seem to form but one household, living together in Chris- 
tian fellowship, and with no other object but to serve their God, 
and do their duty to their neighbour. I have seldom been more 
gratified, I may say affected, than by this sight. I am aware how 
strong a prejudice there exists in many quarters to missions in ge- 
neral, but I felt that if one of their strongest opponents could have 
witnessed what I then did, and could have informed himself of the 
real good that is doing, (not here alone, but by the other mission- 
aries in the island) by the silent, judicious, and unwearied labours 
of these good men, his opposition must have ceased. Mr. Mayor, 
who is son to our neighbour at Shawbury, was originally brought 
up in the medical line, and passed a very good examination; his 
surgical and medical knowledge are invaluable to himself and his 
- neighbours, so far removed as they are from all assistance ; and 
even during the short time we were his guests, we found their use 
in a sudden attack our little girl had, brought on by fatigue and 
over-exertion. 

September 25, Sunday. — The Bishop consecrated the church 
and afterwards the burial-ground this morning : almost all the 
European residents from Galle, and a great number of natives 
were assembled to witness the ceremony ; and, I think, the pecu- 
liar circumstances under which it was performed, must have ren- 
dered it highly interesting to the greater part of the congregation ; 
at least, if I may judge of their feelings by my own. The Bishop 
preached, and in the afternoon confirmed thirteen persons, all of 
whom, save three, were Cingalese ; making, together with five who 
had been previously confirmed at Galle, fifteen recently convert- 
ed natives in this mission, four of whom received the sacrament. 

In the evening the Bishop examined some of the scholars, and 
heard them read and construe a chapter in the New Testament 
from English into Cingalese. This station has been established 
six years, and if the lives of the missionaries are spared, there is 
every reasonable hope, with God's blessing, of its being produc- 
tive of extensive good. 

September 26. — We left Baddagame in palanqueens, along the 
banks of the river, which was too much swollen by heavy rains, 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 



201 



lately fallen, to admit of our going in boats ; indeed the track was 
in some parts covered with water, so deep that it nearly entered 
my palanqueen, and was very fatiguing to the poor bearers. In 
the afternoon we arrived at Galle, and resumed our former apart- 
ments at Mr. Sansoni's. 

In the expectation of being able to sail to-morrow, the Bishop 
set off immediately to visit Mrs. Gisborne's school. My poor lit- 
tle girl was still suffering under the effects of her recent attack at 
Baddagame, which prevented my accompanying him ; this I very 
much regretted, when, on his return, he gave me an account of 
the establishment, which had pleased him very much, and which 
reflected great credit on Mrs. Gisborne's good sense and good 
management. 

We were detained two days at Galle by unfavorable winds, for 
it is impossible to leave the harbour unless it blows from a par- 
ticular quarter. 

Early in the morning of the 29th we re-embarked, our party 
being augmented by a son of Mr. Layard's, and one of Captain 
Driburgh's, (the Commandant at Galle) the latter of whom was on 
his way to Bishop's College, as one of the new students. 

Our visit to Ceylon has afforded us very great pleasure and in- 
terest, from its agreeable society, the beauty of its scenery, its cu- 
riosities, and, far above all, from the religious state of the native 
inhabitants. I have heard it said, that the number of Christians 
on the coast, and amongst our settlements, do not fall far short of 
half a million ; very many of these, undoubtedly, are merely nomi- 
nally such, who have no objection to attend our church, and even 
would, if they were allowed, partake without scruple in her rites ; 
and then, perhaps, the same evening, offer a propitiatory sacrifice 
to the devil ! Still, the number of real Christians is very consid- 
erable ; the congregations in the native churches are good ; and 
the numbers who came for confirmation (none were, of course, 
admitted, of whose fitness their Ministers were not well convinc- 
ed,) was extremely gratifying. I think the Bishop confirmed 
above 300. 

The Church Missionary Society has four stations, — Nellore, 
Baddagame, Cotta, and Candy, supplied at present with but six 
Missionaries : were its funds sufficient, there would, perhaps, be 
no limits to which its beneficial effects might not extend ; but the 
island is too poor to do much for itself, and must mainly depend 
on its friends at home for assistance. Caste exists in considerable 
force, but it is, perhaps, more political than religious caste. That 
of the Chaliers I have already mentioned; there is another, yet 
lower, called " Rhoders," whose tribe was originally degraded for 
eating beef; their women are fortune-tellers ; a large proportion 
of the Cingalese are, however, on an equality in this respect, and 



202 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 

have no objection to following any liberal profession. At Candy 
the population is scrupulously divided into castes, which include 
all the different ranks and professions ; but there is one caste quite 
excluded from all intercourse with their countrymen. The name 
I have forgotten, but I was told that they lived in the deepest 
misery, from which no good behaviour on their part could raise 
them. On meeting a Candian of any rank they are forced to pay 
him the same reverence that this last would do to his king. 

The worship of Buddh is the prevailing religion in Candy as 
well as in other parts of the island, and there are also among the 
Candians some nominal Christians, who use his doctrines as a 
charm against evil spirits ; this province has, however, been for 
too short a time under Christian government, to expect any very 
considerable effects from our intercourse with its natives. 

The Candians are a much handsomer and finer race than the 
Cingalese, the latter of whom are short and slightly made, with 
countenances a good deal resembling the images of Buddh. In 
our journey to Candy I was much pleaded with the readiness and 
zeal with which the men used to push the carriages up the steep 
hills, or hold them back in their descent. On the coast there is 
a great mixture of inhabitants, descendants of the Dutch and 
Portuguese as well as Malays, and many others from the coast. 
There are Mussulmans and Hindoos in all parts, but no great pro- 
portion of the latter. 

The climate on the south and south-west coast is particularly 
fine for a tropical country, the thermometer at Colombo ranges 
from 75° to 86° or 87°, seldom exceeding the latter, though so 
near the line. This is partly to be attributed to the constant 
sea-breezes, and partly to its sharing in the winds and rains of 
the two monsoons which blow at different periods on the Mala- 
bar and CoFomandel coasts. It is not generally injurious to Eu- 
ropean constitutions either there or to the north ; and I have 
seen several individuals, apparently in the enjoyment of health, 
though without colour, who have never been out of the island. 
Last year Ceylon suffered from sickness, in common with all 
India, very severely, which only ceased when the rains set in, 
they having been preceded by an unusual drought. 

Sir Edward Barnes interests himself much in the improve- 
ment of the natives ; the roads which he is making must contri- 
bute essentially to their prosperity and comfort, and he is at- 
tempting to introduce among them the system of entail ; at pre- 
sent property is sub-divided into the minutest portions, even to 
the coco-tree, the 154th part of one of which I have seen ad- 
vertised for sale. While this custom, with that of forced labour, 
lasts, the island must be poor; in fact, glorious as it is by nature, 
it has as yet had very few of the advantages of civilization. 



203 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

CALCUTTA TO SADRAS. 

VOYAGE INVALID OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS FROM RANGOON— CATAMA- 
RANS MADRAS SCHOOLS NATIVE CHRISTIANS VISIT TO PRINCE 

AZEEM KHAN SIR THOMAS MUNRO ST. THOMAS'S MOUNT MAHA- 

BALIPOOR SADRAS . 

January 30, 1826. — I again left, with a heavy heart, my dear 
wife and children, for the visitation of Madras and the south of 
India. I was accompanied by my Chaplain, Mr. Robinson, and 
went down by boat to Fultah, a village about 25 miles from Cal- 
cutta, where is a good tavern kept by a Dutch native of Chin- 
surah. The village is large and populous, the greater part of the 
people are engaged either in rearing stock for the ships at Dia- 
mond Harbour, or in making straw hats, and other trifling articles, 
for strangers passing up and down the river. The surrounding 
country is like all the rest of lower Bengal, green, perfectly level, 
overflowed annually by the river, and distributed in rice-fields, 
scattered in patches amid almost interminable groves of fruit- 
trees and palms. We found it much cooler than Calcutta, and 
less infested with musquitos; but during the greater part of the 
year both this place and all the country round Diamond Harbour, 
and thence towards the sea, is intensely unwholesome. Were it 
otherwise, this would be a good place for a missionary, and has 
been thought of for that purpose. The population of the whole 
neighbourhood appears to swarm like an ant-hill, but they are 
all cottagers ; no traces of even moderate wealth appear among 
them, though their dwellings are clean, and their poverty, to a 
person acquainted with the few and simple wants of this climate, 
does not seem abject. Perhaps they do not fare the worse for 
having the majority of their Zemindars non-resident. 

February 2. — Having received our summons the preceding 
evening, and the wind now blowing pleasantly from the north, 
we proceeded down the noble Ganges, which is here, I should 
apprehend, eight miles at least in breadth, following the ship to 
a creek called Barakatallah, a little below Calpee, and diverging 
from the Ganges into the Sunderbunds. 

While anchored at Saugor point, on the 4th, the steam-vessel, 
Enterprise, passed us, with despatches from Frome, and bringing 
the unwelcome intelligence, though somewhat relieved by the 

Vol. II.— 26 



204 VOYAGE TO MADRAS. 

news of a victory, that hostilities had recommenced with the 
Burmese. 

Sunday, February 5.— We proceeded to the Sandheads, and 
dismissed the pilot. I was glad to learn from him that a poor 
man, who had once taken us up the river, and got miserably 
drunk on that occasion, had been greatly impressed by some good 
advice I had given him, and had since remained a water-drinker. 
I wish my good counsels were always equally successful ! 

Our voyage to Madras was tedious, and not over-pleasant; we 
had a steady, and, for this season, a most unusual south-west 
wind, from the time the pilot left ns, down to February 25, when 
we with difficulty reached the roads. The Bussorah Merchant 
had a very fine and orderly crew of British seamen, without a 
single Lascar. There were also thirty miserable invalid soldiers, 
with some women and children, going back, with broken health 
and depraved habits, either to England, or, which seemed most 
probable with many of them, to die at sea. These poor people 
were, apparently, attentive to what Mr. Robinson and I read and 
prayed, and we took it by turns to visit them once a day. We 
were not, however, able to flatter ourselves that the impression 
made was at at all deep, and the women, in particular, seemed 
incorrigible in their drunkenness, though one of them, who was 
actually and hopelessly dying from this cause, was a fluent talker 
on religious matters, and had been, she told us, religiously edu- 
cated, and, while in England, a constant member of Mr. Row- 
land Hill's congregation. 

Nothing can be more foolish, or in its effects more pernicious, 
than the manner in which spirits are distributed to European 
troops in India. Early every morning a pint of fiery, coarse, un- 
diluted rum is given to every man, and half that quantity to every 
woman ; this, the greater part of the new-comers abhor in the first 
instance, or would, at all events, if left to themselves, mix with 
water. The ridicule of their seasoned companions, however, de- 
ters them from doing so, and a habit of the worst kind of intem- 
perance is acquired in a few weeks, more fatal to the army than 
the swords of the Jats, or the climate of the Burmese. If half the 
quantity of spirits, well watered, were given at a more seasonable 
hour, and to compensate for the loss of the rest, a cup of strong 
coffee allowed to each man every morning, the men would be 
quite as well pleased, and both their bodies and souls preserved 
from many dreadful evils. Colonel Williams, of the " Queen's 
Own," whom we met at Bombay, has tried this experiment with 
much success, and it might, with a little resolution, be universal 
throughout the army. 

The younger sailors were, many of them, very attentive and 
devout, when we visited the soldiers. On Sundays, indeed, all 



i 



VOYAGE TO MADRAS. 



205 



the crew were decent and orderly in their attendance on Divine 
Service, and the passengers, though a set little less motley than 
the crew, evinced much readiness to join in family prayer every 
evening. There was much grievous distress on board. Two of- 
ficers from Rangoon and Arracan, both gentlemanly young men, 
the one wasted by fever to a living skeleton, without use of his 
legs or arms, carried up and down the ladder to and from table, 
his eyes almost glazed, and his voice feeble and hollow, — the 
other, who was particularly intelligent and good-tempered, and 
had the traces of much strength and manly beauty, was covered 
from head to foot with ulcers, some of which reached quite to his 
bones. Both these, as well as a third, who was killing himself 
with dram-drinking, were going home for their health, though the 
surgeon of the ship expressed great fears that all three would share 
the fate of a poor baby who died on board, and find their graves 
before they reached Europe. 

Two of the female passengers were also objects of considerable 
pity ; the first being a young widow, whose husband, a small in- 
digo planter, had failed in business, and destroyed himself, and 
who was now going home, with her child, to live on the charity 
of some poor relations. The other, a wretched crazy girl also 
in an humble rank of life, who had fallen in love with a man in a 
more elevated station, and who had since hardly spoken at all, but 
continued crying all day long. 

On the whole, what I saw and heard on board the Bussorah 
Merchant, was not calculated to make my voyage one of pleasure, 
even if I had felt less keenly my separation at Calcutta. It was a 
comfort to me, however, with regard to this, that the officers on 
board, who were all well acquainted with Madras and the south 
of India, coincided in opinion with what we had been previously 
told, that it would be highly improper for either women or chil- 
dren to travel there at this season of the year. 

Our first view of the coast of Coromandel was of some low 
craggy hills near Pulicat, at some little distance inland. Madras 
itself is on a level beach, having these hills eight or ten miles to 
the north, and the insulated rock of St. Thomas about the same 
distance southward. The buildings and fort, towards the sea, 
are handsome, though not large, and grievously deficient in shade ; 
the view, however, from the roads, and on landing, is very pretty. 

The masuli-boats (which first word is merely a corruption of 
" muchli," fish,) have been often described, and, except that they 
are sewed together with coco-nut twine, instead of being fastened 
with nails, they very much resemble the high deep charcoal-boats 
which are frequently seen on the Ganges. The catamarans, 
however, I found I had no idea of till I saw them. They are each 
composed of three coco-tree logs, lashed together, and big enough 



206 



CATAMARANS. 



to carry one, or, at most, two persons. In one of these a small 
sail is fixed, like those used in Ceylon, and the navigator steers 
with a little paddle ; the float itself is almost entirely sunk in the 
water, so that the effect is very singular, of a sail sweeping along 
the surface with a man behind it, and apparently nothing to sup- 
port them. Those which have no sails are, consequently, invisi- 
ble, and the men have the appearance of treading water, and 
performing evolutions with a racket. In very rough weather the 
men lash themselves to their little rafts, but in ordinary seas they 
seem, though frequently washed off, to regard such accidents as 
mere trifles, being naked all but a wax-cloth cap, in which they 
keep any letters they may have to convey to ships in the roads, 
and all swimming like fish. Their only danger is from sharks, 
which are said to abound. These cannot hurt them while on their 
floats, but wnp bp. to them if they catch them while separated 
from that defence. Yet, even then, the case is not quite hopeless, 
since the shark can only attack them from below ; and a rapid 
dive, if not in very deep water, will sometimes save them. I have 
met an Englishman who thus escaped from a shark which had 
pursued him for some distance. He was cruelly wounded, and 
almost dashed to pieces on the rocky bottom against which the 
surf threw him ; but the shark dared not follow, and a few strokes 
more placed him in safety. 

The contrary wind which had so long delayed us, ensured us a 
peaceable landing, as it blew directly off shore, and the surf was 
consequently much less than it often is, or than I had heard it de- 
scribed. It was less than we had seen it in the shore of Ceylon, 
not merely at Galle, but at Barbereen, and on the beach near 
Colombo ; still it would, I think, have staved the strongest ship's 
boat ; but in boats adapted to the service, it had nothing formi- 
dable. 

We were received on the beach by Captain Grant, the master 
attendant, Mr. Gwatkin, the second commissioner of marine, and 
Mr. Roy, the senior chaplain ; and soon after joined by the town- 
major, Colonel Taylor, who conducted us to a most comfortable 
house, which government had provided for my accommodation. 

The time which I passed in Madras was so much occupied in 
getting through a great accumulation of professional duties, as well 
as ~in receiving and paying visits, that I had no time to keep a 
journal. 1 was pleased with my clergy, and found myself on the 
most friendly terms with them. The governor and principal civil 
and military functionaries were more than civil and hospitable ; 
they were most kind and considerate in doing every thing which 
could contribute to my comfort either in Madras or in the prepa- 
rations for my journey. I confirmed 478 persons in St. George's 
Church ; and about 120 more at Poonamallee, a station about six- 



MADRAS. 



207 



teen miles off. My visitation was attended by the Archdeacon 
and fifteen Clergymen, including the Church Missionaries and 
those of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. These 
last, being Lutherans, though episcopally ordained in Denmark, 
Bishop Middleton thought himself precluded from acknowledging 
as Clergymen, forbade them to preach in any but their own 
Churches, and would not admit the young Tamulians, whom 
they had prepared, for confirmation. In consequence, I had only 
a small number of candidates from that nation, and those prepared 
by the Church Missionaries, but Dr. Rottler said that by my 
return to Madras, they should have, probably, 150 ready to 
attend me. 

The principal church in Madras, St. George's, is very beauti- 
ful, and the chunam, particularly, of the inside, has an effect little 
less striking than the finest marble. The small old Church in the 
fort (St. Mary's) has some good monuments, particularly one 
erected to the memory of the Missionary Schwartz, by the East. 
India company, and the Scottish Church, though of a singular and 
injudicious form for the purpose of hearing, is a very large and 
stately building, fitted up with much elegance. Here, as elsewhere 
in India, I found the Scots Clergy extremely well disposed to be 
on friendly terms with those of England. Mr. Lawrie, the junior 
minister, was, I think, one of my mosfconstant auditors in the dif- 
ferent Churches where I preached. 

The other buildings of Madras ofTer nothing very remarkable ; 
the houses all stand in large compounds, scattered over a very 
great extent of ground, though not quite so widely separated as at 
Bombay. There are not many upper-roomed houses among them, 
nor have I seen any of three stories. The soil is, happily, so dry, 
that people may safely live and sleep on the ground floor. I do 
not think that in size of rooms they quite equal those either of 
Calcutta or Bombay ; but they are more elegant, and, to my mind, 
pleasanter than the majority of either. The compounds are all 
shaded with trees and divided by hedges of bamboo, or prickly 
pear ; against these hedges several objections have lately been 
made, on the ground that they intercept the breeze, and contri- 
bute to fevers. I know not whether this charge has any founda- 
tion ; but, if removed, they would greatly disfigure the place ; and, 
in this arid climate, where no grass can be preserved more than 
a few weeks after the rains, would increase to an almost intole- 
rable degree, a glare from the sandy and rocky soil, which I al- 
ready found very oppressive and painful. 

Government-house is handsome, but falls short of Pareil in con- 
venience, and the splendour of the principal apartments. There 
is, indeed, one enormous banqueting-house, detached from the 
rest and built at a great expense, but in vile taste ; and which can. 



208 



MADRAS. 



be neither filled nor lighted to any advantage. It contains some 
bad paintings of Coote, Cornwallis, Meadows, and other military 
heroes, and one, of considerable merit, of Sir Robert Strange, all 
fast going to decay in the moist sea-breeze, and none of them, ex- 
cept the last, deserving of a longer life. 

There are some noble charities here ; the military school for 
male and female orphans, where Dr. Bell first introduced his sys- 
tem, is superior to any thing in Calcutta, except the upper schools 
at Kidderpoor. The orphan asylums in the Black Town, though 
much smaller, put the management of the Calcutta free-school to 
shame ; and at Vepery is the finest Gothic Church, and the best 
establishment of native schools, both male and female, which I 
have yet seen in India. The native Christians are numerous and 
increasing, but are, unfortunately, a good deal divided about castes, 
respecting which I have to make some regulations, which I have 
deferred till I have seen the missions in the south. The majority 
of the Missionaries complain of Christian David as intriguing and 
tracassier ; I myself am not easily shaken in my good opinion of 
him; and I find good old Dr. Rottler thinks with me. I have, 
however, obtained the appointment of a select committee of the 
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, to enquire into the 
real nature of the claims of caste still subsisting, and to report to 
me at my return, which with my own enquiries may, perhaps, 
land us nearer the truth. I find there is a vast deal to do con- 
nected with the southern missions ; and have had many intricate 
and important points referred to me, both by the committee, Dr. 
Rottler, and Mr. Haubroe. My journey I foresee will not be a 
party of pleasure, but I rejoice that 1 have not delayed it any 
longer. 

I also received very uncomfortable accounts of the new Syrian 
Archbishop in Travancore, who was in open war with the En- 
glish Missionaries and the two metropolitans who had till now 
supported them. On the whole I had abundant reason to pray 
heartily for health, discretion, and firmness, since in no part of 
India had I found so much expected from me. 

The Armenians in Madras are numerous, and some of them 
wealthy. Mr. Sam, the principal of them, is a very sensible and 
well-informed man, a great traveller, like most of his nation, and 
who, more than most of his nation, has mixed and still mixes in 
good European society. He told me some curious particulars con- 
cerning his country, partly en his own authority, partly as inter- 
preter to Mar Simeon, a dignified ecclesiastic from a convent near 
Erivan, whom I met with at Bombay, and who now again called 
on me. At Bombay they had called him Bishop, but I now found 
that he was only Episcopal Commissary from the Archbishop of 
Shirauz. I thought him now, as I had previously done at Bombay. 



MADRAS. 



209 



a plain, modest man, very grateful for attention, but far less well- 
informed and interesting than Mar Abraham of J erusalem. He 
told me, what I was glad to learn, that the Russians governed 
their new conquests on the side of Georgia very well and justly, 
and that the poor oppressed Christians of Armenia earnestly pray- 
ed that they also might become the subjects of the Emperor, in- 
stead of Persia and Turkey. He too, as well as Mar Abraham 
and the Archbishop Athanasius, expressed a desire to attend the 
English Church service, and accordingly came the day on which 
I administered confirmation. 

On the whole I cannot but hope that many good effects may 
arise from this approximation in courtesy, &c. of the Eastern 
Churches to our own ; when they find that we desire no dominion 
over them, they may gradually be led to imitate us. But it is 
painful to see how slight causes, as in the case of Athanasius, may 
endanger this alliance. 

During my stay in Madras, I paid a visit to the Prince Azeem 
Khan, uncle and guardian to the Nawab of the Carnatic, who is 
an infant. All my clergy accompanied me in their gowns, and 
we were received with as much state as this little court could 
muster, but which need not be described, as it did not vary from 
that of other Mussulman princes, and reminded me very much of 
Dacca on a larger scale. I was chiefly struck with the great 
number of " Ullemah, " learned men; or, at least, persons in the 
white dress of Mussulman Ullemah, whom we found there. 

While I was conversing, to the best of my power, with the 
Prince, Mr. Robinson was talking with some of these, who asked 
many curious questions about our Clergy, whether all those whom 
they saw had come with me from Calcutta, whether our Clergy 
could marry, whether I was married, and whether I was appoint- 
ed to my office by the Company or the King. I rose, visibly, in 
their estimation by being told the latter, but they expressed their 
astonishment that I wore no beard, observing, with much truth, 
that our learned men lost much dignity and authority by the ef- 
feminate custom of shaving. They also asked if I was the head 
of all the English Church ; and on being told that I was the head 
in India, but that there was another Clergyman in England supe- 
rior to me ; the question was then again asked, " and does not he 
wear a beard ?" Near the place where 1 sate a discussion arose, 
whether my office answered to any among the Mussulmans, and 
it was at length determined that I was, precisely, what they term 
" Moostahid." 

This was one of my last performances in Madras, where, in- 
deed, I was almost worn out, having preached (reckoning charge 
and confirmation addresses) eleven times in little more than a fort- 
night, besides presiding at a large meeting of the Society for Pro- 



210 



MADRAS. 



moting Christian Knowledge, visiting six schools, giving two large 
dinner parties, and receiving and paying visits innumerable. Had 
I also had to make the arrangements for my journey, I should have 
been quite tired out ; but here Mr. Robinson and Colonel Taylor 
left me little to do. 

The Madras servants I had heard highly praised, but I think 
beyond their merits ; they are not by any means so cleanly as those 
of Bengal, nor do I think them so intelligent. The English which, 
they speak is so imperfect, that it is sometimes worse than nothing ; 
and few of them know any thing of Hindoostanee. In hon- 
esty both seem pretty much on a par ; the expences of Madras 
very far exceed those of Calcutta, except house rent, which is 
much less. 

It was very pleasant to hear Sir Charles Grey so universally 
spoken of with respect and affection; and, though I had not the 
same personal interest in his praise, it was interesting to find only 
one voice about Sir Thomas Munro, whose talents, steadiness, and 
justice, seemed admitted by every body ; he is a fine, dignified old 
soldier, with a very strong and original understanding, and a solid 
practical judgment ; he is excellently adapted for the situation 
which he holds ; and his popularity is, perhaps, the more honora- 
ble to him, because his manners, though unaffected and simple, 
are reserved and grave, at least on a first acquaintance. 

The climate of Madras I found decidedly hotter at this season 
than the March which I spent in Calcutta ; the nights, however, 
were cool, and it should be noticed that people spoke of the sea- 
son as unusually sultry, and complained of the great want of rain. 
What I saw, therefore, was not to be taken as a fair specimen of 
Madras heat and aridity. 

Mr. Robinson and I left Madras on the afternoon of Monday, 
the 13th, having sent on our baggage, horses, and servants on the 
preceding Saturday, under the care of Captain Harkness, the 
officer commanding my escort. We went in a carriage to the 
military station of St. Thomas's Mount, eight miles from Madras, 
intending in our way, to visit the spot marked out by tradition as 
the place where the Apostle St. Thomas was martyred. Unfor- 
tunately tbe "little mount," as this is called, (being a small rocky 
knoll with a Roman Catholic Church on it, close to Marmalong 
bridge in the suburb of Meilapoor,) is so insignificant, and so much 
nearer Madras than we had been given to understand, that it did 
not attract our attention till too late. That it is really the place 
I see no good reason for doubting ; there is as fair historical evi- 
dence as the case requires, that St. Thomas preached the Gospel 
in India, and was martyred at a place named Milliapoor or Meila- 
poor. The eastern Christians, whom the Portuguese found in 
India, all agreed in marking out this as the spot, and in saying that 



ST. THOMAS'S MOUNT. 



211 



the bones, originally buried here, had been carried away as relics 
to Syria. They, and even the surrounding heathen, appear to 
have always venerated the spot, as these last still do, and to have 
offered gifts here on the supposed anniversary of his martyrdom. 
And as the story contains nothing improbable, from beginning to 
end (except a trumpery fabrication of some relics found here by 
the Portuguese monks about a century and a half ago,) so it is not 
easy to account for the origin of such a story among men of dif- 
ferent religions, unless there were some foundation for it. 

T know it has been sometimes fancied that the person who 
planted Christianity in India, was a Nestorian Bishop named 
Thomas, not St. Thomas the Apostle, but this rests, absolutely, on 
no foundation but a supposition, equally gratuitous and contrary 
to all early ecclesiastical history, that none of the Apostles except 
St. Paul went far from Judea. To this it is enough to answer 
that we have no reason why they should not have done so ; or why, 
while St Paul went (or intended to go) to the shores of the 
furthest west, St. Thomas should not have been equally laborious 
and enterprising in an opposite direction. But that all the apos- 
tles, except the two St. James's, did really go forth to preach the 
Gospel in different parts of the world, as it was, a priori, to be 
expected, so that they did so we have the authority of Eusebius 
and the old Martyrologies, which is, at least, as good as the doubts 
of a later age, and which would be reckoned conclusive if the 
question related to any point of civil history. Nor must it be for- 
gotten, that there were Jews settled in India at a very early pe- 
riod, to convert whom would naturally induce an apostle to think 
of coming hither; that the passage, either from the Persian Gulph 
or the Red Sea is neither long nor difficult, and was then extremely 
common ; and that it may be, therefore, as readily believed that 
St. Thomas was slain at Meilapoor, as that St. Paul was beheaded 
at Rome, or that Leonidas fell at Thermopylae. Under these 
feelings I left the spot behind with regret, and shall visit it if 1 
return to Madras, with a reverent, though I hope, not a supersti- 
tious interest and curiosity. 

The larger mount, as it is called, of St. Thomas, is a much 
more striking spot, being an insulated cliff of granite, with an old 
Church on the'summit, the property of those Armenians who are 
united to the Church of Rome. It is also dedicated to St. Thomas, 
but (what greatly proves the authenticity of its rival) none of the 
sects of Christians or Hindoos consider it as having been in any 
remarkable manner graced by his presence or burial. It is a 
picturesque little building, and commands a fine view. W e went 
up to it with Mr. Hallowell, the Chaplain of the station at its foot 
which is the principal cantonment for artillery belonging to the 
Madras army. 

Vol. It— 27 

• 



212 SCENERY ON THE COAST OF COROMANDEL. 

Government are building a handsome Church here, in a very 
advantageous situation, immediately at the foot oflthe mount, and 
with some noble trees round it. The foundation is now laid, and, 
when finished, it will have its chancel westward instead of east- 
ward, a peculiarity which I found many persons were offended at, 
but which I did not think worth altering, inasmuch as this method 
of placing the building suited best in point of effect and conveni- 
ence. There is no canon that I know of for placing Churches 
with the altars eastward ; and though this custom is, certainly, 
most ancient and usual, there have been many remarkable excep- 
tions to it from the Cathedral of Antioch, built in the age immedi- 
ately succeeding the Apostles, down to St. Peter's in Rome, which 
has , also its sanctuary westward. 

The cantonment is very beautifully placed, with a noble pa- 
rade-ground planted with fine trees, and its rocky back ground 
and other circumstances give it a great advantage over Durn Dum. 
It is also reckoned one of the most wholesome spots in the south 
of India, being considerably elevated above the sea, and enjoying 
the breeze in much perfection. 

After drinking tea with Mr. and Mrs. Hallowell, we got into 
our palanqueens, accompanied by Mr. Doran, one of the Church 
Missionaries, who is to be placed at Cotyam in Travancore, and 
who had been before with me in Calcutta. I asked him to join 
my party in this journey, both as it was a great advantage and 
convenience to him, and as it gave me the opportunity of ground- 
ing him thoroughly in my views with regard to the management 
to be observed with the Syrian Churches, among whom he would 
have to labour. Government kindly supplied him with the loan 
of a tent in the character of my second Chaplain, and I look for- 
wards to no inconvenience but rather pleasure from his society. 
He is a young Irishman, educated at Trinity College, an extreme- 
ly good scholar, and of a modest and gentle character and man- 
ners ; who is, however, a mere child in all matters of prudence 
and worldly management, and if he had got into proper hands on 
first coming to India, would have been likely to fall into enthusi- 
asm. As it is, I heartily hope that he will be a valuable accession 
to the Church in this country. 

We travelled all night, a practice which I am not fond of, but 
which circumstances rendered desirable, and, exactly at day-break, 
reached the rocky beach below the seven pagodas, and where the 
surf, according to the Hindoos, rolls and roars over " the city of 
the great Bali." One very old temple of Vishnu stands immedi- 
ately on the brink, and amid the dash of the spray, and there are 
really some small remains of architecture, among which a tall 
pillar, supposed by some to be a lingam, is conspicuous, which 
rise from amid the waves, and give a proof that, in this particular 

# 



CITY OF MAHA-BALI-POOR, 



213 



spot, (as at Madras) the sea has encroached on the land, though 
in most other parts of the Coromandel coast it seems rather re- 
ceding than advancing. There are also many rocks rising through 
the white breakers, which the fancy of the brahmins points out 
as ruins, and the noise of the surf, the dark shadow of the remain- 
ing building, the narrow slip of dark smooth sand, the sky just 
reddening into dawn and lending its tints to the sea, together with 
the remarkable desolation of the surrounding scenery, were well 
calculated to make one remember with interest the description in 
Kehama, and to fancy that one saw the beautiful form of Kailyal 
in her white mantle pacing sadly along the shore, and watching 
till her father and lover should emerge from the breakers. In two 
points the picture only fails ; the caverns in which she was to 
lodge at night are, at least, a mile from high-water mark, and in 
this climate it is at noon-day only, not as a bed-chamber, that a 
cavern will be preferred to the open air. I made a sketch of the 
scene ; but it is one of those which is nothing except in the hand 
of a painter. 

The case is otherwise with the real city of Maha-Bali-poor, 
whose ruins stand among the cliffs at the distance of a short half- 
mile inland. This has really been a place of considerable im- 
portance as a metropolis of the ancient kings of the race of Pan- 
dion, and its rocks which, in themselves, are pretty and pictur- 
esque, are carved out into porticos, temples, bas-reliefs, &c. on a 
much smaller scale, indeed, than Elephanta or Kennery, but 
some of them very beautifully executed. They differ from those 
of the north and west of India (which are almost all dedicated 
to Siva or Kali,) in being in honour of Vishnu, whose different 
avatars are repeated over and over in the various temples, while 
I only saw the solitary lingam, if it be one, which I have men- 
tioned, in the sea, and one unfinished cave which struck me as 
intended for a temple of the destroying power. 

Many of the bas-reliefs are of great spirit and beauty ; there 
is one of an elephant with two young ones strikingly executed ; 
and the general merit of the work is superior to that of Elephanta, 
though the size is extremely inferior. I had heard much of the 
lions which are introduced in different parts of the series, and 
the execution of which was said to be more remarkable because 
no lions are known to exist in the south of India. But I appre- 
hend that the critics who have thus praised them have taken their 
idea of a lion from those noble animals which hang ove rinn-doors 
in England, and which, it must be owned, the lions of Maha- 
Bali-poor very remarkably resemble ; they are, in fact, precisely 
such animals as an artist, who had never seen one, would form 
from description. 

Notwithstanding the supposed connection of these ruins with 



214 



SADRAS. 



the great Bali, I only saw one bas-relief which has reference to 
his story, and which has considerable merit. It represents Bali 
seated on his throne, and apparently shrinking in terror at the 
moment when Vishnu, dismissing his disguise of a brahmin dwarf 
under which he had asked " the king of the three worlds" to grant 
him three paces of his kingdom, appears in his celestial and gi- 
gantic form, striding from earth to heaven, and " wielding all 
weapons in his countless hands," over the head of the unfortunate 
Raja, who, giant as he himself is said to have been, is represented 
as a mere Lillyputian in the presence of " the preserving deity." 
These ruins cover a great space ; a few small houses inhabited by 
brahmins are scattered among them, and there is one large and 
handsome temple of Vishnu of later date and in pretty good re- 
pair, the priests of which chiefly live by shewing the juins. One 
of them acted as our Cicerone, and seemed the only person in 
the place who spoke Hindoostanee. Two boys preceded us with 
a pipe and a small pair of cymbals, and their appearance among 
these sculptures was very picturesque and appropriate. 

After about two hours spent in Maha-bali-poor, or, as the 
Tamul pronunciation makes it, Mavellipooram, we again got 
into our palanqueens, and went on to Sadras, a spot about a 
mile beyond, where our tents and servants were expecting us, 
and where we found our companions, Captain Harkness and Dr» 
Hyne. 

Sadras is a large but poor-looking town, once a Dutch settle- 
ment, and still containing many families of decayed burghers, 
like those of Ceylon, the melancholy relics of a ruined factory. 
Some of them have little pensions from the charity of the British 
government, and there is a Dutch missionary, a very poor and 
modest, and apparently, a good man, who lives among them, does 
duty in Dutch and Portuguese, and has a little school for both 
Christian and Heathen children. His salary is paid by a religious 
society in the Netherlands. A small old pagoda is in the entrance 
of the town, whose principal inmates, the presiding brahmin and 
the dancing-girl, followed me to my tent. This was the first specie 
men which I had seen of the southern Bayadere, who differ consider- 
ably from the nach girls of northern India, being all in the service of 
different temples, for which they are purchased young and brought 
up with a degree of care which is seldom bestowed on the females 
of India of any other class. This care not only extends to dancing 
and singing, and the other allurements of their miserable profes- 
sion, but to reading and writing. Their dress is lighter than the 
bundles of red cloth which swaddle the figurante of Hindostan, 
and their dancing is said to be more indecent, but their general 
appearance and manner seemed to me far from immodest, and 
their air even more respectable than the generality of the lower 



BAYADERES. 



215 



classes of India. The poor girl whom I saw at Sadras, making 
allowance for the difference of costume and complexion, might 
have passed for a smart, but modest, English maid-servant. The 
money which they acquire in the practice of their profession is 
hallowed to their wicked gods, whose ministers are said to turn 
them out without remorse, or with a very scanty provision, when 
age or sickness renders them unfit for their occupation. Most of 
them, however, die young. Surely, the more one sees of this 
hideous idolatry, the more one must abhor it, and bless God for 
having taught us better. I had heard that the Bayaderes were re- 
garded with respect among the other classes of Hindoos, as ser- 
vants of the gods, and that, after a few years 1 service, they often 
married respectably. But, though I made several enquiries, I cannot 
find that this is the case ; their name is a common term of reproach 
among the women of the country, nor could any man of decent 
caste marry one of their number. Yet the gods are honoured who 
receive such sacrifices ! I have always looked on these poor crea- 
tures with no common feelings of sorrow and pity. 

Our little camp was on the sea-shore, about two miles beyond 
the town of Sadras, and I found abundant reason to acknowledge 
the liberal kindness of government in the number and excellence 
of the tents, camels, and elephants which they had provided for 
me. 

March 15. — We set out this morning at half-past three, and 
rode over a very sandy, but rather pretty country, much resem- 
bling the coast of Ceylon, being covered with coco and palmyra- 
trees, and intersected with several streams. 



t 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES W. WILLIAMS WYNN. 

Barrackpoor, October 29th, 1823, 

My dear Wynn, 

The first quiet morning which I have had since my arrival in 
India I cannot employ more agreeably than in writing to those 
dear and kind friends, the recollection of whom I feel binding 
me still more strongly to England, the farther I am removed from 
it 

The first sight of India has little which can please even those 
who have been three months at sea. The coast is so flat as only 
to be distinguished, when very near it, by the tall coco-trees which 
^rround the villages ; and Juggernauth, which is a conspicuous 
Remark, shews merely three dingy conical domes, like glass- 
houses. The view of Saugor is still worse, being made up of 
marshes and thick brush-wood, on the same level line of shore, 
and conveying at once the idea, which it well deserves, of tygers, 
serpents, and fevers. During the night of our anchoring under its 
lee, however, few of us went to bed without reluctance, since, 
besides the interest which men feel in looking on land at all, after 
so long an absence, I never saw such magnificent sheet-lightening 
in my life as played over it all night. When coupled with the 
unhealthy and dangerous character of the place, and the super- 
stitions connected with it as the favourite abode of Kali, it was 
impossible to watch the broad, red, ominous light, which flickered 
without more intermission than just served to heighten its contrast 
with darkness, and not to think of Southey's Padalon; and it 
luckily happened that " Kehama" was on board, and that many 
of the party, at my recommendation, had become familiar with it 



218 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



daring the voyage. By the way, what a vast deal of foolish pre- 
judice exists about Southey and his writings. Of the party on 
board some had been taught to think him a Jacobin, some an Ul- 
tra-Tory, some a Methodist, some an enemy to all religion, and 
some a madman. None had read a line of his works, but all were 
inclined to criticise him, and yet all, when they really tried the 
formidable volume, were delighted both with the man and the 
poetry. Nor is he the only poet for whom I succeeded in obtain- 
ing some justice. I repeated at different times some parts of the 
"Ancient Mariner,' 1 without telling whose it was, and had the 
pleasure to find that its descriptions of natural objects in tropical 
countries, were recognized by the officers, and more experienced 
passengers, as extremely vivid, and scarcely exaggerated. The 
chief mate, a very hard-headed Scotsman, a grandson of Lord Mon- 
boddo's, was peculiarlv struck, and downright affected, with the 
shrinking of the planks of the devoted ship when becalmed under 
the line, the stagnation and rolling of the deep, and the diminished 
size, and terrible splendour of the noon-day sun, right over the 
mast-head, " in a hot and copper sky." He foretold that we should 
see something like this when the Grenville came to anchor in the 
Hooghly ; and verily he fabled not. The day after our arrival off 
Saugor the sun was, indeed, a thing of terror, and almost intolera- 
ble ; and the torrent, carrying down trees, sugar-canes, and corpses 
past us every five minutes, and boiling as it met the tide-stream, 
like milled chocolate, with its low banks of jungle, or of bare 
sand, was as little promising to a new comer as could well be 
conceived. Of these different objects, the corpses, as you are 
aware, are a part of the filthy superstition of the country, which 
throws the dead, half-roasted over a scanty fire, into the sacred 
river ; and such objects must always be expected and perceived| 
by more senses than one. The others, though also usual at thd 
termination of the rains, were this year particularly abundant, 
from the great height to which the river had risen, and the con- 
sequent desolation which it had brought on the lower plantations 
and villages. 

We arrived in Fort William dh the evening of the 10th. The 
impression made by the appearance of the European houses 
which we passed in Garden-reach, — by our own apartments, by 
the croud of servants, the style of the carriages and horses sent 
to meet us, and almost all the other circumstances which met our 
eyes, was that of the extreme similarity of every thing to Russia, 
making allowance only for the black instead of the white faces, 
and the difference of climate, though even in Russia, during sum- 
mer, it is necessary to guard against intense heat. This impres- 
sion was afterwards rather confirmed than weakened. The size 
of the houses, their whiteness and Palladian porticos, the loftiness 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



219 



of the rooms, and the scanty furniture, — the unbounded hospitali- 
ty and apparent love of display, all reminded me of Petersburgh 
and Moscow ; to which the manner in which the European 
houses are scattered, with few regular streets, but each with its 
separate court-yard and gate-way, and often intermixed with 
miserable huts, still more contributed. 

I caught myself several times mixing Russian with my newly 
acquired Hindoostanee, talking of rubles instead of rupees, and 
bidding the attendants come and go in what they, of course, mis- 
took for English, but which was Sclavonic. I was surprised to find 
how little English is understood by them ; outof upwards of forty 
servants, there are only two who have the least smattering of it, 
and they know a few of the commonest words, without the power 
of putting together or understanding a sentence. The sircar, 
indeed, is a well-educated man ; but of him we see comparatively 
little, so that we have abundant opportunity and necessity for the 
acquisition of the native languages. After a manner, indeed, every 
body speaks them, but we find (I must say) our previous instruc- 
tions in grammar from Gilchrist extremely valuable, both as fa- 
cilitating our progress, and as guarding us from many ridiculous 
equivoques and blunders into which other griffins fall 

My situation here is extremely pleasant, as pleasant as it can 
be at a distance from such friends as those whom I have left be- 
hind, and I have a field of usefulness before me, so vast, that my 
only fear is lest I should lose my way in it. The attention and 
the kindness of the different members of government, and the hos- 
pitality of the society of Calcutta, have been every thing we 
could wish and more. The arrears of business which I have to 
go through, though great, and some of a vexatious nature, are such 
as I see my way through. My own health, and those of my wife 
and child, have rather improved than otherwise since our landing, 
and the climate, now that we have lofty rooms and means of 
taking exercise at proper times of the day, is any thing but into- 
lerable 

Of what are called in England " the luxuries of the east," 
I cannot give a very exalted description ; all the fruits now in 
season are inferior to those of England. The oranges, though 
pleasant, are small and acid; the plaintain is but an indifferent 
mellow-pear; the shaddock has no merit but juicyness and a slight 
bitter taste which is reckoned good in fevers, and the guava is an 
almost equal mixture of raspberry jam and garlic. Nor are our 
artificial luxuries more remarkable than our natural. They are, 
in fact, only inventions (judicious and elegant certainly) to get rid 
of real and severe inconveniences, while all those circumstances 
in which an Englishman mainly places his ideas of comfort or 
splendour, such as horses, carriages, glass, furniture, &c. are, in 

Vol. II.— 28 



220 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Calcutta, generally paltry and extravagantly dear. In fact, as my 
shipmate Colonel Pennington truly told me, " the real luxuries of 
India, when we can get them, are cold water and cold air." But 
though the luxury and splendour are less, the society is better 
than I expected. 

The state in which the high officers of government appear, and 
the sort of deference paid to them in society, are great, and said to 
he necessary in conformity with native ideas, and the example set 
by the first conquerors, who took their tone from the Mussulmans 
whom they supplanted. All members of council, and others, 
down to the rank of puisne judges inclusive, are preceded by two 
men with silver-sticks, and two others with heavy silver-maces, 
and they have in society some queer regulations, which forbid any 
person to quit a party before the lady or gentleman of most rank 

rises to take leave. 

* # # # * * * 

There are some circumstances in Calcutta dwellings which at 
first surprise and annoy a stranger. The lofty rooms swarm 
with cockroaches and insects; sparrows and other birds fly in and 
out all day, and as soon as the candles are lighted, large bats 
flutter on their indented wings, like Horace's cura, round our 
laqueata tecta, if this name could be applied to roofs without any 
ceiling at all, where the beams are left naked and visible, lest the 

depredations of the white ant should not be seen in time. 

* # * * * # * 

On the whole, however, you will judge from my description 
that I have abundant reason to be satisfied with my present com- 
forts and my future prospects, and that in the field which seems 
open to me for extensive usefulness and active employment, I 
have more and more reason to be obliged to the friend who has 
placed me here. 

The country round Calcutta is a perfect flat, intersected by 
pools and canals, natural and artificial, teeming with population 
like an ant-hill, and covered with one vast shade of fruit trees, 
not of low growth like those of England, but, generally speak- 
ing, very lofty and majestic. To me it has great interest ; indeed 
such a scene as I have described, with the addition of a majestic 
river, may be monotonous but cannot be ugly. 

Barrackpoor, the governor's country-house, is really a beauti- 
ful place, and would be thought so in any country. It has what 
is here unexampled, a park of about 150 acres of fine turf, with 
spreading scattered trees, of a character so European, that if I 
had not been on an elephant, and had not from time to time seen 
a tall coco-tree towering above all the rest, I could have fancied 
myself on the banks of the Thames instead of the Ganges. It is 
hence that I date my letter, having been asked to pass two days 



CORRESPONDENCE. 221 

here. Our invitation was for a considerably longer period, but 
it is as yet with difficulty that I can get away even for a few 

hours from Calcutta. 

******* 

Of the religious state of India I have little as yet to say. I 
have bestowed the archdeaconry, much to my satisfaction, on the 
senior resident chaplain, Mr. Corrie, who is extremely popular in 
the place, and one of the most amiable and gentlemanly men in 
manners and temper I ever met with. 

In the schools which have been lately established in this part 
of the empire, of which there are at present nine established by 
the Church Missionary, and eleven by the Christian Knowledge 
Societies, some very unexpected facts have occurred. As all di- 
rect attempts to convert the children are disclaimed, the parents 
send them without scruple. But it is no less strange than true, 
that there is no objection made to the use of the Old and New 
Testament as a class book; that so long as the teachers do not 
urge them to eat what will make them lose their caste, or to be 
baptized, or to curse their country's gods, they readily consent to 
every thing else, and not only Mussulmans but Brahmins stand by 
with perfect coolness, and listen sometimes with apparent interest 
and pleasure while the scholars, by the road side, are reading 
the stories of the creation and of Jesus Christ. Whether the 
children themselves may imbibe Christianity by such means, or 
whether they may suffer these truths to pass from their minds, as 
we allow the mythology which we learn at school to pass from 
ours, some further time is yet required to shew, but this, at least, 
I understand has been ascertained, that a more favourable opinion 
both of us and our religion has been, apparently, felt of late by 
many of those who have thus been made acquainted with its 
leading truths, and that some have been heard to say, that they 
did not know till now that the English had " a caste or a shaster." 
You may imagine with what feelings I have entered the huts 
where these schools are held, on seeing a hundred poor little chil- 
dren seated on the ground writing their letters in sand, or their 
copies on banana leaves, coming out one after another to read the 
history of the good Samaritan, or of Joseph, proud of shewing 
their knowledge, and many of them able to give a very good ac- 
count of their studies. 

I have been even more gratified at seeing the confidence and 
respect evidently shewn by the elder villagers towards the clergy 
who superintend these schools. I yesterday saw a man follow a 
German missionary, to request that he would look at his little 
boy's copy ; and Mr. Hawtayne, the secretary to the Society for 



i 



222 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Promoting Christian Knowledge, seems as well known and re- 
ceived in the vicinity of his schools, as any English clergyman in 
his parish. 

I have not as yet received any visits from the wealthy natives, 
though some of them have made inquiries through my sircar, 
whether such visits would be agreeable to me, to which I, of 
course, answered, " extremely so." Their progress in the imita- 
tion of our habits is very apparent, though still the difference is 
great. None of them adopt our dress, (indeed their own is so 
much more graceful, and so much better adapted to the climate, 
that they would act very absurdly In doing so.) But their houses 
are adorned with verandahs and Corinthian pillars ; they have 
very handsome carriages, often built in England ; they speak tol- 
erable English, and they shew a considerable liking for European 
society, where (which unfortunately is not always the case,) they 
are encouraged or permitted to frequent it on terms of any thing 
like equality. Few of them, however, will eat with us ; and this 
opposes a bar to familiar intercourse, which must, even more than 
fashion and John Bullism, keep them at a distance. 

They are described, especially the Hindoos, as not ill-affected 
to a government under which they thrive, and are allowed to en- 
joy the fruits of their industry, while many of them still recollect 
the cruelties and exactions of their former rulers. 

This is, I feel, an unreasonable letter. But I know your friend- 
ship will not be indifferent to details in which I am so much in- 
terested ; and I have not been sorry, while the novelty yet re- 
mained, to communicate to you my first impressions of a country, 
in all respects so unlike our own, and yet so important to an Eng- 
lishman. Lord Hastings appears to have been very popular here, 
and to have done much good. The roads which he made in dif- 
ferent parts of Calcutta and its neighbourhood, his splendour, 
and his extreme courtesy, made him liked both by natives and 
Europeans. 

Adieu, dear Wynn. Present our mutual best regards to Mrs* 
Williams Wynn and young folk, and believe me ever, 

Your obliged and affectionate friend, 

Reginald Calcutta, 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



223 



TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES W. WILLIAMS WYNN. 

Fort-William, December 1, 1823. 

My Dear Wynn, 

*fa 

I hope you will, ere this reaches you, have received a long let- 
ter from Barrackpoor, giving an account of my first impressions of 
India. By all which I have yet seen, I do not think they were 
too favourable. The climate, since I wrote, has very materially 
improved, and is now scarcely hotter, and to the full as pleasant 
as our finest August weather. The mornings and evenings are 
particularly agreeable ; and the sun, during the day-time, though 
still too hot to admit of taking exercise, is any thing but oppres- 
sive to those who are sitting still under a roof, or driving in a car- 
riage. The only plague, and a sore plague too, are the musquitos. 

«^ ^ ^ 

I am constantly, and sometimes intensely occupied, insomuch 
that 1 have as yet had no time whatever for my usual literary 
pursuits, and scarcely any for the study of Hindoostanee and Per- 
sian, or the composition of sermons, of which last, unluckily, owing 
to a mistake, my main stock was sent by another ship which has 
not yet arrived, so that I have more trouble in this way than I ex- 
pected, or than is very consistent with my other duties. 

Since my last letter, I have become acquainted with some of 
the wealthy natives, of whom I spoke, and we are just returned 
from passing the evening at one of their country-houses. This is 
more like an Italian villa, than what one should have expected as 
the residence of Baboo Hurree Mohun Thakoor. Nor are his 
carriages, the furniture of his house, or the style of his conversa- 
tion, of a character less decidedly European. He is a fine old 
man, who speaks English well, is well informed on most topics 
of general discussion, and talks with the appearance of much fa- 
miliarity on Franklin, chemistry, natural philosophy, &c. His 
family is brahminical and of singular purity of descent ; but about 
400 years ago, during the Mahommedan invasion of India, one of 
his ancestors having become polluted by the conquerors intruding 
into his Zennanah, the race is conceived to have lost claim to the 
knotted cord, and the more rigid brahmins will not eat with them. 
Being, however, one of the principal landholders in Bengal, and 
of a family so ancient, they still enjoy to a great degree the ven- 
eration of the common people, which the present head of the 
house appears to value, — since I can hardly reconcile in any other 
manner his philosophical studies and imitation of many European 
habits, with the daily and austure devotion which he is said to 
practice towards the Ganges, (in which he bathes three times 
every twenty-four hours,) and his veneration for all the other du- 



/ 



224 CORRESPONDENCE. 

ties of his ancestors. He is now said, however, to be aiming at 
the dignity of Raja, a title which at present bears pretty nearly 
the same estimation here as a peerage in England, and is conferred 
by government in almost the same manner. 

The house is surrounded by an extensive garden, laid out in 
formal parterres of roses, intersected by straight walks, with some 
fine trees, and a chain of tanks, fountains, and summer-houses, not 
ill adapted to a climate where air, water, and sweet smells, are 
almost the only natural objects which can be relished during the 
greater part of the year. The whole is little less Italian than the 
facade of his house, but on my mentioning this similarity, he ob- 
served that the taste for such things was brought into India by the 
Mussulmans. There are also swings, whirligigs, and other amuse- 
ments for the females of his family, but the strangest was a sort of 
" Montagne Russe" of masonry, very steep, and covered with 
plaster, down which he said the ladies used to slide. Of these 
females, however, we saw none, — indeed they were all staying 
at his town-house in Calcutta. He himself received us at the 
head of a whole tribe of relations and descendants on a handsome 
flight of steps, in a splendid shawl, by way of mantle, with a large 
rosary of coral set in gold, leaning on an ebony crutch with a gold 
head. Of his grandsons, four very pretty boys, two were dressed 
like English children of the same age, but the round hat, jacket, 
and trowsers, by no means suited their dusky skins so well as the 
splendid brocade caftans and turbans covered with diamonds, 
which the two elder wore. On the whole, both Emily and I 
have been greatly interested with the family, both now and dur- 
ing our previous interviews. We have several other eastern ac- 
quaintance, but none of equal talent, though several learned Mool- 
lahs, and one Persian doctor, of considerable reputed sanctity, 
have called on me. The Raja of Calcutta, and one of the sons of 
Tippoo Sultan, do not choose, I am told, to' call till I have left 
the fort, since they are not permitted to bring their silver-sticks, 
led-horses, carriages, and armed attendants within the ramparts. 
In all this, nothing strikes me more than the apparent indifference 
of these men to the measures employed for extending Christianity, 
and rendering it more conspicuous in Hindoostan. They seem 
to think it only right and decent that the conquering nation should 
have its hierarchy and establishment on a handsome scale, and to 
regard with something little short of approbation, the means we 
take for instructing the children of the poor. One of their men 
of rank has absolutely promised to found a college at Burdwan, 
with one of our missionaries at its head, and where little children 
should be clothed and educated under his care. All this is very 
short indeed of embracing Christianity themselves, but it proves 
how completely those feelings are gone by, in Bengal at least, 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



225 



which made even the presence of a single missionary the occasion 
of tumult and alarm. I only hope that no imprudence, or over- 
forwardness on our part, will revive these angry feelings. 

* # * * 

Believe me, dear Charles, 

Ever your obliged friend, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



to MISS DOD. 

Calcutta, Dec. 15, 1823. 

I have been very busy, busier indeed than I ever was before, 

except during the Oxford election ; * * * 

# # * * * * * 

The country, the society, and, at this season of the year, the cli- 
mate are all very agreeable, and there are several amiable and 
excellent people here, who have shewn us much and cordial 
kindness, and whose friendship would, in any country, be a va- 
luable privilege. Of the country we have as yet seen little, ex- 
cept in one voyage up the river, and in the vicinity of Calcutta. 
But all Bengal is described to us as like those parts which we have 
seen, a vast alluvial plain, intersected by the innumerable arms of 
the Ganges, overflowed once a year, but now covered with fields 
of rice, divided by groves of tall fruit-trees, with villages under 
their shelter, swarming with a population beyond any thing which 
Europe can shew, and scarcely to be paralleled in China. Cal- 
cutta, when seen from the south, on which side it is built round 
two sides of a great "open plain, with the Ganges on the west, is 
a very noble city, with tall and stately houses ornamented with 
Grecian pillars, and each, for the most part, surrounded by a lit- 
tle apology for a garden. The churches are not large, but very 
neat and even elegant buildings, and the government house is, to 
say the least of it, a more shewy palace than London has to pro- 
duce. These are, however, the front lines $ behind them ranges 
the native town, deep, black and dingy, with narrow crooked 
streets, huts of earth baked in the sun, or of twisted bamboos, in- 
terspersed here and there with ruinous brick bazars, pools of dirty 
water, coco-trees, and little gardens, and a few very large, very 
fine, and generally very dirty houses of Grecian architecture, the 
residence of wealthy natives. There are some mosques of pretty 
architecture, and very neatly kept, and some pagodas, but mostly 
ruinous and decayed, the religion of the people being chiefly con- 



226 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



spicuous in their worship of the Ganges, and in some ugly painted 
wooden or plaster idols, with all manner of heads and arms, which 
are set up in different parts of the city. Fill up this outline with 
a crowd of people in the streets, beyond any thing to be seen even 
in London, some dressed in tawdry silks and brocades, more in 
white cotton garments, and most of all black and naked, except a 
scanty covering round the waist, besides figures of religious men- 
dicants with no clothing but their long hair and beards in elf locks, 
their faces painted white or yellow, their beads in one ghastly lean 
hand, and the other stretched out like a bird's claw to receive 
donations ; marriage processions, with the bride in a covered chair, 
and the bridegroom on horseback, so swathed round with garlands 
as hardly to be seen ; tradesmen sitting on the ground in the midst 
of their different commodities, and old men, lookers on, perched 
naked as monkeys on the flat roofs of the houses ; carts drawn by 
oxen and driven by wild-looking men with thick sticks, so unmer- 
cifully used as to undeceive perfectly all our notions of brahminical 
humanity ; attendants with silver maces, pressing through the 
crowd before the carriage of some great man or other ; no women 
seen except of the lowest class, and even these with heavy silver 
ornaments on their dusky arms and ancles ; while coaches, covered 
up close with red cloth, are seen conveying the inmates of the 
neighbouring seraglios to take what is called " the air;" a constant 
creaking of cart wheels, which are never greased in India, a con- 
stant clamour of voices, and an almost constant thumping and 
jingling of drums, cymbals, &c. in honour of some of their deities ; 
and add to this all a villainous smell of garlic, rancid coco-nut oil, 
sour butter, and stagnant ditches, and you will understand the 
sounds, sights, and smells of what is called the " Black Town" of 
Calcutta. The singularity of this spectacle is best and least of- 
fensively enjoyed on a noble quay which Lord Hastings built along 
the shore of the river, where the vessels of all forms and sizes, 
Arab, Indian, Malay, American, English, the crowds of brahmins 
and other Hindoos washing, and saying their prayers ; the lighted 
tapers which, towards sun-set, they throw in, and the broad bright 
stream which sweeps them by, guiltless of their impiety and un- 
conscious of their homage, afford a scene such as no European 

and few Asiatic cities can at all parallel in interest and singularity. 

******* 

Great state, of a certain kind, is still kept up, not only by the 
governor-general, (who has most of the usual appendages of a 
sovereign, such as body-guards, gold-sticks, spear-men, peacocks' 
plumes, state carriages, state barge, and elephants,) but by all the 
principal persons in authority. You would laugh to see me car- 
ried by four men in a palanqueen, two more following as a relay, 
two silver maces carried before me, and another man with a huge 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



227 



painted umbrella at my side ; or to see Emily returning from a 

party, with the aforesaid silver maces, or sometimes four of them 

behind her carriage, a groom at each horse's head, and four men 

running before with glass lanthorns. Yet our establishment is as 

modest and humble as the habits of the place will allow. 
# * * * * * % 

After all, this state has nothing very dazzling in it ; a crowd of 
half-naked followers is no splendid shew, and the horses, the equi- 
pages, and the furniture of Calcutta, are all as far from magnifi- 
cent as any that I am acquainted with. Our way of life in other 
respects is sensible and suited to the climate. The general cus- 
tom is to rise at six in the cold season, and at half-past four in 
the morning during the hot weather, and to take exercise on 
horseback till the sun is hot, then follow a cold bath, prayers, 
and breakfast. This last is a sort of public meal, when my clergy 
and other friends drop in, after which I am generally engaged in 
business till two, when we either dine, or eat our tiffin ; we then 
go out again at five or six, till darkness drives us home to dress 
for dinner, or pass a tranquil evening. Our rooms are large and 
lofty, with very little furniture ; the beds have no drapery but a 
musquito net, and now the climate is so cool as even to require a 
blanket. 

We have excellent turf for gallopping and excellent roads for 
driving on the great plain of which I have spoken. But there is 
no necessity for confining ourselves to it, the roads round Calcutta 
as soon as its boundary is passed, wind through beautiful villages, 
overhung with the finest and most picturesque foliage the world 
can shew, of the banyan, the palm, the tamarind, and, more beau- 
tiful perhaps than all, the bamboo. Sometimes the glade opens 
to plains covered, at this time, with the rice harvest, or to a sight 
of the broad bright river, with its ships and woody shores ; some- 
times it contracts into little winding tracks, through fruit-trees, 
gardens, and cottages; the gardens fenced in with hedges of aloe 
and pine-apple ; the cottages neater than those of Calcutta, and 
mostly of mats and white wicker-work, with thatched roofs and 
cane verandahs, with gourds trailing over them, and the broad tall 
plaintains clustering round them. Adieu. 

Yours most faithfully, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



Vol. II. - 29 



228 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



TO THE VERY REVEREND THE DEAN OF ST. ASAPH. 

.Fort-William, December 16, 1823. 

My dear Sir, 

Long before this reaches you, you will, I trust, have received 
the news of our safe arrival in India, and Emily's account of our 
first impressions of the country, the people, and Calcutta. These 
impressions were, and still continue favourable. 

The climate at this time of year far surpasses my expectations, 
and indeed if it would always continue as it is now, would be, 
perhaps, the finest in the world. And I find the field of useful 
exertion before me so great, and the probability of doing good so 
encouraging, that if Providence blesses us with health, I have no 
doubt of being as happy here as we could be any where at such a 
distance from our dear and excellent friends. Emily and I have, 
thank God, remained perfectly well through our changes of cli- 
mate. Some days ago I should have had a bad report to make of 

our dear little girl. 

* * * * * * * . 

During the last week she has been almost quite herself again, 
but her mother has so much confidence in the sea air, and a 
change of air of any kind is said to be, in this country, so desira- 
ble for convalescents, that she has determined to take her down 
till the end of the month to the Sand-heads at the mouth of the 
river, — for which purpose Lord Amherst has kindly placed one 
of the pilot schooners at her disposal, and, what is of still more 
consequence, has authorised Mr. Shaw, the assistant surgeon of 

the Fort, to accompany and remain with her till her return. 

% * # * # * % 

At the present time this is a very fine and interesting country, 
and contains the capability and. the probability of improvement 
to a degree far exceeding any thing which I had anticipated. In 
Bengal, indeed, as you are aware, there is no mountain, nor so 
much as a single hill, and the prospect has no other beauty but 
what arises from water, wood, and a richly cultivated plain, in- 
habited by a population exceeding all which I know in Europe, 
and apparently falling little short of all which we read of in China. 
Yet these circumstances, joined to the apparent simplicity of the 
people, their singular customs and architecture, the beauty and 
clearness of the sky, and the richness and majesty of the vegeta- 
ble creation, make our rides and drives here very interesting, 
particularly those which are taken on horseback through glade 
and copse and hamlet, and rice-fields, under the shadow of ban- 
yans, bamboos, tamarinds, and cocos. It is in the course of these 
rides that I generally visit the village schools, which are now nu- 
merous and flourishing under the care of the Society for Promot- 



CORRESPONDENCE. ' 229 

lag Christian Knowledge, and the Church Missionary Society ; of 
the institution and success of which I had a very inadequate no- 
tion before I arrived in India, and which I believe are but little 
known even at the present moment in England. Hearing all I 
had heard of the prejudices of the Hindoos and Mussulmans, I 
certainly did not at all expect to find that the common people 
would not only without objection, but with the greatest thankful- 
ness, send their children to schools on Bell's system ; and they 
seem to be fully sensible of the advantages conferred by writing, 
arithmetic, and, above all, by a knowledge of English. 

^£ ^ ^ f?£» 

There are now in Calcutta, and the surrounding villages, twenty 
boys' schools, containing from 60 to 120 each ; and twenty-three 
girls' each of twenty-five or thirty. The latter are under the manage- 
ment of a very clever young woman, who came out under the pa- 
tronage of the Lancasterian School Society, but, in consequence 
of their having pledged themselves to allow no Scripture lessons 
in their schools, and her preferring the system pursued by the 
Church of England, they withdrew her salary, and she must have 
left the country, had she not been fortunately taken up by the 
Church Missionary Society, one of whose missionaries she has 
since married. This branch of education, is however, now about 
to be put on a different footing. Some of the Hindoos objected 
to men at all interfering in the girls' schools, or even that the 
school should be in the same building where men reside. We 
are, therefore, going to build a separate house for the school, 
which, with all the female schools established, or to be establish- 
ed in India, is to be managed by a committee of ladies. Lady 
Amherst has taken the office of patroness, and Emily, w r ith seve- 
ral other ladies in Calcutta, are to form a committee. I have no 
doubt that things will go on prosperously if we can only get funds 
sufficient for the demand on us. The difficulties of Mrs. Wilson's 
undertaking, and the wonders she has brought about, will be bet- 
ter understood when I mention, that two years ago, no single na- 
tive female in Bengal could either write, read, or sew, that the 
notion of teaching them these things, or of sending them to schools 
where they ran the risk of mixing with, and touching those of dif- 
ferent castes, was, at first, regarded in about the same light as it 
would be in England to send a girl to learn tumbling and rope- 
dancing at Sadler's Wells, and that even those who were most 
anxious for the improvement of the natives, and knew most of In- 
dia, spoke of her as undertaking impossibilities. Mrs. Wilson's 
first care was to get a pretty good knowledge both of Hindoos- 
tanee and the vulgar Bengalee; her next, to circulate her propo- 
sals in these languages, urging on parents the advantages w T hich 
their daughters would derive from her instructions, as servants, 



230 CORRESPONDENCE. 

mothers, and mistresses of families, promising a strict regard to 
caste, and urging that, whether they became Christians or no, it , 
would do them no harm to become acquainted with the European 
shaster, and the rules of conduct which Europeans professed to 
follow towards each other. She went about a' good deal herself 
among the wealthy native families, persuaded some of the lead- 
ing Goroos, or religious teachers, to honour her school with their 
presence and inspection, and all now goes on smoothly. Rhada- 
cant Deb, one of the wealthiest natives in Calcutta, and regarded 
as the most austere and orthodox of the worshippers of the Gan- 
ges, bade, some time since, her pupils go on and prosper ; and 
added, that " if they practised the Sermon on the Mount as well 
as they repeated it, he would choose all the handmaids for his 
daughters, and his wives, from the English school.'" I do not say, 
nor do I suppose, that any large proportion of these children will 
become Christians. Even if they were to offer it now, we should 
tell them, " Wait till you are of age, and get your father's leave 
and it is likely that many, on leaving school, will leave many of 
their good impressions behind them. But it is certain, that, 
whether they become Christians or no, they may be great gainers 
by what they learn; and it is probable that some, at least, in the 
present generation, and probably far more among their children, 
will be led to compare our system with their own, and seriously, 
and in a real zeal for their own salvation, to adopt the truth. In 
the mean time, I am assured that the pains now taken have ma- 
terially increased the popularity of the English in Bengal. The 
peasants cannot help perceiving that the persons who mix with 
them for these purposes, have their worldly as well as spiritual in- 
terest at heart. The children like the rewards, the clothing, and 
the praise which they receive ; and in districts where, I am as- 
sured, three years ago, at the sight of an European they all ran 
away screaming to hide themselves, the clergymen and missiona- 
ries engaged in the superintendence of these little establishments 
are now as well known and as well received as an English pastor 
in his parish. Our chief hindrances are some deistical brahmins, 
who have left their old religion, and desire to found a sect of their 
own, and some of those who are professedly engaged in the same 
work with ourselves, the Dissenters. These last are, indeed, very 
civii, and affect to rejoice at our success ; but they, some how or 
other, cannot help interfering, and setting up rival schools close 
to ours ; and they apparently find it easier to draw off our pupils, 
than to look out for fresh and more distant fields of exertion and 
enterprize. 

* * % * -# 

'. * * * * * 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



231 



M}» principal labour here is in the multitude of letters from the 
Archdeacons, the Chaplains, the charitable Institutions, the Su- 
preme Government, and the inferior governments of Madras and 
Bombay, which I have constantly to read and answer. Besides 
my official Secretary, 1 am obliged to keep a native Amanuensis, 
and as every thing connected with Churches, Chaplains, Missiona- 
ries, and Schoolmasters, passes through my hands, or is referred 
to me by government, besides my being visitor of Bishop's Col- 
lege, and agent to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 
I find myself daily in a sort of business in which I have much to 
learn, and in which I certainly take no great pleasure. I have 
this morning, for instance, and yesterday evening, had to answer 
four letters about the rate of exchange between Calcutta and Eng- 
land, and the expediency of drawing bills on the latter to pay the 
College debts ; and I have just finished reading a long sheet of 
queries from the secretary to government, respecting some eccle- 
siastical buildings, their expense, workmanship, &c. which will 
take some time and many previous enquiries to answer properly. 
All this will, however, I doubt not, become familiar to me by 
degrees ; and I only regret it now, because it completely hinders 
the composition of my sermons, and very materially retards my 
acquisition of the Oriental languages. On the political state and 
prospects of India, as they at present appear to me, I hope to write 
another letter. It is an extensive and not uninteresting subject, 
and one, which I think is not generally understood in Europe. 

December 17. 

I rejoice to send a good account of both my Emilies, whom I 
accompanied some way down the river yesterday, and left very 
comfortably accommodated. 

^ 

This letter will go by the purser of the Grenville, who is not 
yet set of. Captain Manning went yesterday, having taken charge 
of Emily and her little girl as far as the Sand-heads ; they are to 
be very little on shore, but are to cruize about the roads during 
the day, and return at night to anchor. 

Believe me, my dear Sir, 

Ever your obliged and affectionate 

Reginald Calcutta, 



• 



232 CORRESPONDENCE. 

TO R. J. WILMOT HORTON, ESQ. 

Calcutta, December, 1823, 

My Dear Wilmot, 

The speed of our voyage in the Grenville, by landing us in 
India some weeks before the time at which we might have been 
expected to arrive there, has been productive of one uncomforta- 
ble effect, by making us appear so much the longer without let- 
ters from England. Only one Liverpool vessel has since arrived, 
which was not of a date previous to the time of our own sailing, 
and she brought papers only a very few days more recent than 
ours. Reports, however, have from time to time been raised, of 
vessels supposed from Europe, ^een working up towards Saugor ; 
and you may well conceive the eagerness with which we have, 
on such occasions, anticipated the arrival of those bundles of in- 
formation and kind wishes which form the delight of an English 
post-day, and to us, on the Ganges, would be, I cannot say how 
interesting. The Grenville, however, is now about to sail again, 
and I take advantage of her return to remind those valued friends 
who may, possibly, not yet have written to us, how much their 
correspondence allays the pain of absence. 

This is a fine country, and, at this time of the year, a very fine 
climate. We have, indeed no mountains, not even an elevation 
so high as the mount in Kensington Gardens, which I recollect 
the more, because in them was my last ramble with yourself and 
Hay. We have no springs, no running streams except the Gan- 
ges, and we have not much of open, plain and dry turf. But we 
have wood and water in abundance ; the former of the noblest de- 
scription of foliage which I have ever seen, both in form, verdure, 
variety, and depth of shadow. I had no idea of the beauty and 
majesty of an Indian wood: the coloured prints which I had seen 
in England being as unlike the sober richness of the reality as the 

bloom of Mrs. Salmon's wax-work goddesses to Mrs. ■. 

Nor, to those who like wandering about an immense conservato- 
ry, or who are pleased and interested with cane-work cottages, 
little gardens of plaintains and pine apples, and the sight of a very 
poor but simple, and by no means inelegant, race of peasants, are 
there prettier rides than those afforded by the lanes and hedge- 
rows round Calcutta. The mornings, from five to eight, are now 
equal to the pleasantest time of year in England ; then follow 
about eight hours, during which a man does well to remain in the 
house, but which, under such circumstances, are not too hot 
either for comfort or any kind of mental exertion ; and from four 
to dark it is again about the temperature of our summer evening. 
This is, indeed the best time of the year. Of the rains and the hot 
winds everybody speaks with very alarming eloquence ; and 1 appre- 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



233 



hend that, during their continuance, a bare existence is all that 
any man can hope for. We had some little of these last on our 
first arrival, but not sufficient to prevent our morning and evening 
airings. They were, however, sufficiently potent to induce us to 
believe all which had been told us of the necessity of cool cloth- 
ing, cool diet, and quietness. 

', . . * * # * * 

Of the people of this country, and the manner in which they 
are governed, I have, as yet, hardly seen enough to form an opin- 
ion. I have seen enough, however, to find that the customs, the 
habits, and prejudices of the former are much misunderstood in 
England. We have all heard, for instance, of the humanity of 
the Hindoos towards brute creatures, their horror of animal food, 
&c. ; and you may be, perhaps, as much surprised as I was, to 
find that those who can afford it are hardly less carnivorous than 
ourselves ; that even the purest brahmins are allowed to eat mut- 
ton and venison ; that fish is permitted to many castes, and pork 
to many others: and that, though they consider it as a grievous 
crime to kill a cow or bullock for the purpose of eating, yet they 
treat their draft oxen, no less than their horses, with a degree of 
barbarous severity which would turn an English hackney-coach- 
man sick. Nor have their religious prejudices, and tbe unchan- 
geableness of their habits, been less exaggerated. Some of the 
best-informed of their nation, with whom 1 have conversed, assure 
me that half their most remarkable customs of civil and domestic 
life are borrowed from their Mohammedan conquerors ; and at 
present there is an obvious and increasing disposition to imitate 
the English in every thing, which has already led to very re- 
markable changes, and will, probably, to still more important. 
The wealthy natives now all affect to have their houses deco- 
rated with Corinthian pillars, and filled with English furniture. 
They drive the best horses and most dashing carriages in Cal- 
cutta. Many of them speak English fluently, and are tolerably 
read in English literature ; and the children of one of our friends 
I saw one day dressed in jackets and trowsers, with round 
hats, shoes and stockings. In the Bengalee newspapers, of 
which there are two or three, politics are canvassed with a bias, 
as I am told, inclining to whiggism, and one of their leading 
men gave a great dinner, not long since, in honor of the Spa- 
nish revolution. Among the lower orders the same feeling 
shews itself more beneficially, in a growing neglect of caste, — 
in not merely a willingness, but an anxiety, to send their children 
to our schools, and a desire to learn and speak English, which, if 
properly encouraged, might, I verily believe, in fifty years time, 
make our language what the Oordoo, or court and camp language 
of the country (the Hindoostanee,) is at present. And though in- 



234 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



stances of actual conversion to Christianity are, as yet, very un- 
common, yet the number of children, both male and female, who 
are now receiving a sort of Christian education, reading the New 
Testament^ repeating the Lord's Prayer and Commandments, and 
all with the consent, or at least without the censure, of their pa- 
rents or spiritual guides, have increased, during the last two years, 
to an amount which astonishes the old European Residents, who 
were used to tremble at the name of a missionary, and shrink 
from the common duties of Christianity, lest they should give of- 
fence to their heathen neighbours. So far from that being a con- 
sequence of the zeal which has been lately shewn, many of the 
Brahmins themselves express admiration of the morality of the 
Gospel, and profess to entertain a better opinion of the English 
since they have found that they too have a religion and a Shaster. 
All that seems necessary for the best effects to follow is, to let 
things take their course, to make the missionaries discreet, to keep 
the government as it now is, strictly neuter, and to place our con- 
fidence in a general diffusion of knowledge, and in making our- 
selves really useful to the temporal as well as spiritual interests of 
the people among whom we live. In all these points there is, 
indeed, great room for improvement. I do not by any means as- 
sent to the pictures of depravity and general worthlessness which 
some have drawn of the Hindoos. They are decidedly, by nature, 
a mild, pleasing, and intelligent race; sober, parsimonious, and, 
where an object is held out to them, most industrious and perse- 
vering. But the magistrates and lawyers all agree, that in no 
country are lying and perjury so common, and so little regarded. 
Notwithstanding the apparent mildness of their manners, the crimi- 
nal calendar is generally as full as in Ireland, with gang-robberies, 
setting fire to buildings, stacks, &c. &c. ; and the number of 
children who are decoyed aside and murdered, for the sake of 
their ornaments, Lord Amherst assures me, is dreadful. Yet in 
all these points a gradual amelioration is said to be perceptible ; 
and I am assured that there is no ground whatever for the asser- 
tion, that the people are become less innocent or prosperous un- 
der British administration. In Bengal, at least in this neighbour- 
hood, I am assured by the missionaries, who, as speaking the 
language, and associating with the lower classes, are by far the 
best judges, that the English government is popular. They are, 
in fact, lightly taxed, (though that taxation is clumsily arranged, 
and liable to considerable abuse, from the extortions of the native 
Aumeens and Chokeydars ;) they have no military conscription, or 
forced services ; they live in great security from the march of ar- 
mies, &c. and, above all, they some of them recollect in their own 
country, and all of them may hear or witness in the case of their 
neighbours in Oude and the Birman empire, how very differently 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



235 



all these things are managed under the Hindoo and Mahommedan 
sovereignties. 

One very wise and liberal measure of government has been, 
the appropriation of all the internal transit duties to the construc- 
tion of roads and bridges, and the improvement of the towns 
where they are levied. A more popular, however, and I believe 
better policy, would have been to remit those duties altogether. 
They are precisely the things in which the Chokeydars, and other 
underlings, are most fraudulent and oppressive. Twice as much 
is extorted by these fellows from the poor country people as they 
are authorized to receive, and of what is authorized, only a mod- 
erate part finds its way into the Company's coffers. Under such 
circumstances it might, perhaps, be better to remove all restraints 
from internal intercourse and traffic, to make the people indus- 
trious and prosperous, and to be assured that improvements would 
follow by degrees, in proportion as they became necessary or de- 
sirable. Lord Cornwallis's famous settement of the Zemindary 
rents in Bengal, is often severely censured here, as not sufficiently 
protecting the ryuts, and depriving the government of all advan- 
tage from the improvements of the territory. They who reason 
thus, have, apparently, forgotten that, without some such settle- 
ment, those improvements would never have taken place at all ; 
that almost every Zemindary which is brought to the hammer 
(and they are pretty numerous) is divided and subdivided, each 
successive sale, among smaller proprietors, and that the progress 
is manifestly going on to a minute division of the soil among the 
actual cultivators, and subject to no other burdens than a fixed 
and very moderate quit rent, a state of things by no means unde- 
sirable in a nation, and which only needs to be corrected in its 
possible excess by a law of primogeniture, and by encouraging, 
instead of forbidding, the purchase of lands by the English. On 
the desireableness of this last measure, as the most probable 
means of improving the country and attaching the peasantry to 
our government, — I find, in Calcutta, little difference of opinion. 
All the restriction which seems necessary is, that the collectors of 
the Company's taxes shall not be allowed to purchase lands 
within the limits of their districts 5 and if the same law were 
extended to their Hindoo and Mussulman deputies, a considerable 
source of oppression, which now exists, would be dried up or 
greatly mitigated. 



Vol. II.— -30 



236 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



TO JOHN THORNTON, ESQ. 

Titty ghur, January 9, 1824. 

My dear Thornton, 

"9$ t$ ^ ^ 

* * * % * * * * 

I do not think, indeed, that the direct duties of this diocese, 
hating the visitations, are more than a man- may do with a mode- 
rate share of diligence 

They are such, however, as I must do all for myself, since 
though I keep a native scribe at work from nine till four daily, he 
can only he trusted to copy what I write, while it is necessary for 
me to obtain and keep copies of all the official correspondence in 
which I am a party ; besides which, an intercourse with chaplains, 
missionaries, and religious societies is, in India, all carried on by 
letter, and what in England would be settled in a few minutes by 
personal communication, is here the subject of long arguments, 
explanations, and rejoinders in writing. I at first, therefore, had 
occasion to work pretty hard, and am now so fortunate as to be 
completely rid of all arrears of business, and to find myself equal 
to the daily calls of my correspondents, without so completely 
sacrificing all other studies, as I was for some time compelled to 
do. Still I am without books, and what has been still more in- 
convenient, without sermons, so that I have been latterly obliged 
to compose often two, and sometimes three a week, amid greater 
distractions, and with fewer opportunities of study or reference 
than I ever before had to complain of. I continue well, how- 
ever, thank God ! and have abundant reason at present to be 
hopeful and contented in my situation, where I meet with much 
attention and kindness, and where the apparent field of useful- 
ness is so great that, while I deeply feel my own insufficiency, I 
am more and more impressed with the undeserved goodness of 

God in calling me to such a situation. 

* % * * * * * 

To the affairs of the Church Missionary society I have paid 

considerable attention, and have great reason to be satisfied with 

the manner in which they are conducted, as well as personally 

with the committee, and all the Missionaries whom I have seen. 

I have, as you are perhaps aware, obtained their adoption of some 

changes in the constitution of the society, qualified, I hope, to put 

us on a more stable and popular footing, and to obtain for us both 

at home and in India a greater notoriety and usefulness. 

******* 

Pray tell Mr. Parry that all which I have seen of India justifies 
his praises of it. It is a fine and most interesting country. The 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



237 



European society is agreeable, hospitable, and well-informed; 

there are many excellent people in Calcutta. 

# * % * * 

But, alas ! new friends cannot be like old, new lands cannot be 
like home ! And while I should be the most thankless of men not 
to be contented and happy here, I cannot help often wishing for 
a sight of the hill above Hodnet, or the new fence which I left 
you and Mrs. Thornton contriving at Clapham. 

No orders have yet come out from government respecting a 
residence for me. .... 
Dr. Wallichhas lent us his house at Tittyghur, between Calcutta 
and Barrackpoor, a delightful place, which apparently agrees with 
our little girl perfectly. The fort, from closeness, and other rea- 
sons connected with closeness, is said to be often injurious to 
young and delicate persons; but without its rampart we wonld 
fain flatter ourselves even children may enjoy good health in this 
country, and some years at least may elapse before we are com- 
pelled to send ours to England. 

May God hear our prayers, and those, which it is one of my chief 
comforts to believe, are offered up for us by our dear friends 
in England. God Almighty bless you. 

Ever your affectionate friend, 

Reginald Calcutta. 

It was- my intention till lately to set out by land for the upper 
provinces as soon as Emily was able to travel, and to stay at 
Ghazeepoor, a little on this side Benares, during the hot winds. 
In this expedition Archdeacon Corrie promised to accompany me, 
but a reconsideration of all which I am doing, and have to do at 
Calcutta, has convinced me that I cannot be spared before the 
rains, when also I hope for Mr. Corrie's company. The want of 
episcopal visitation, confirmation, &c. in all those vast districts, is 
said to be great. 



TO THE HONOURABLE MRS. DOUGLAS. 

Tittyghur, January 10, 1824. 
Wherever the Ganges is there is beauty ; and even those who 
are most sensible to the beauties >f English scenery, may allow 
that while the peepul, the teak, and the other larger round-topped 
trees will bear no disadvantageous comparison with, our oaks, 
elms, and limes; the mangoe and tamarind greatly surpass in 



238 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



beauty our walnut and cherry-trees ; and we have nothing at all 
answerable to the banyan, the bamboo, the different species of 
palms, or the plantains, aloes, cactus, and ananas, by which the 
cottages a* re surrounded. . . The plains between these groves 
are all cultivated with rice, and have, at this time of the year, 
pretty much the appearance of an English stubble. When we 
first arrived, the rice was like our corn in spring ; but as the 
ground dried, and the crop ripened, it assumed a more au- 
tumnal appearance, though never so bright and golden as our 
wheat. 

Of the fruits of India we had formed high expectations ; the 
mangoe, which is the most celebrated, has not been in season 
since our arrival ; but the rest, such of them at least as are pecu- 
liar to the country, have much disappointed us. The oranges 
are, I think, the best; but they are not better than what are sent 
to London from the Mediterranean and the western isles. I will 
make an exception in favour of the coco-nut when unripe, at 
which time its milk is very refreshing, and far better than we get 
it in England. Nor are many of the native vegetables agreeable 
to an English palate ; though any body may easily get recon- 
ciled to yams, brinjals, and sweet potatoes. At this time of year, 
however, most European vegetables are brought to market in 
abundance, and very good, though cultivated for the consumption 
of Europeans only, the natives liking none of them but potatoes, 
which, though they have only known them during the last few 
years, are likely soon to rank as a supplementary staff of life, 
with rice and plantains. The peasants near Patna already grow 
them to a considerable extent ; but they never can become the 
exclusive crop here, inasmuch as the moist rice-grounds do not 
suit their growth, which will therefore be confined to the sandy 
and drier soils, where rice cannot grow, and where such a vege- 
table may be of unmixed utility; while such a supplementary 
crop, in case of the rice failing, may prevent many a famine, and 
diminish one strong point of the similarity which now exists be- 
tween the Indian and Irish peasantry, their reliance on a single ar- 
ticle of food, and the almost infinite division and subdivision of 
their farms, which here, as in Ireland, is a fertile source of poverty 
and wretchedness. 

On the whole they are a lively, intelligent, and interesting peo- 
ple: of the upper classes, a very considerable proportion learn 
our language, read our books and our newspapers, and shew a 
desire to court our society; the peasants are anxious to learn Eng- 
lish, and though, certainly, very few of them have as yet embrac- 
ed Christianity, I do not think their reluctance is more than might 
have been expected in any country, where a system so entirely 
different from that previously professed, was offered, and offered 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



239 



by those of whom as their conquerors, they may well entertain 
considerable jealousy. Their own religion is, indeed, a horrible 
one; far more so than I had conceived; it gives them no moral 
precepts ; it encourages them in vice by the style of its ceremonies, 
and the character given of its deities ; and by the institution of 
caste, it heardens their hearts against each other to a degree which 
is often most revolting. A traveller falls down sick in the streets 
of a village, (I am mentioning a fact which happened ten days 
ago,) nobody knows what caste he is of, therefore nobody goes 
near him lest they should become polluted ; he wastes to death 
before the eyes of a whole community, unless the jackalls take 
courage from his helpless state to finish him a little sooner, and, 
perhaps, as happened in the case to which I alluded, the children 
are allowed to pelt him with stones and mud. The man of whom 
I am speaking was found in this state and taken care of by a pass- 
ing European, but if he had died, his skeleton would have lain in 
the streets till the vultures carried it away, or the magistrates or- 
dered it to be thrown into the river. 

A friend of mine, some months ago, found a miserable wretch, 
a groom out of employ, who had crept, sick of a dysentery, into 
his court-yard. He had there remained in a corner on the pave- 
ment two days and nights. Perhaps twenty servants had been 
eating their meals daily within six yards of him, yet none had re- 
lieved him, none had so much as carried him into the shelter of 
one of the outhouses, nor had any taken the trouble to tell their 
master. When reproved for this, their answer was, "he was not 
our kinsman "Whose business was it?" "How did we know 
that the Sahib would like to be troubled?" I do not say that 
these are every day instances. I hope and believe not ; nor would 
1 be understood as denying that alms are, to religious mendicants, 
given to a great amount in Bengal, or that several of the wealthy 
inhabitants, in what they consider good works, such as construct- 
ing public tanks, making roads to places of pilgrimage, building 
pagodas and ghats, are libera]. I only mention these instances 
because none of those who heard them seemed to think them un- 
usual or extraordinary; because in a Christian country I think 
they could not have happened, and because they naturally arise 
from the genius of the national religion, which, by the distinction 
which it establishes, makes men worse than indifferent to each 
other. Accordingly many of the crimes which fall under the 
cognizance of the magistrate, and many of the ancient and sancti- 
fied customs of the Hindoos, are marked with great cruelty. The 
Decoits, or gangs of robbers, who are common all over the coun- 
try, though they seldom attack Europeans, continually torture to 
force the peasants to bring out their little treasures. 



240 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



I need say nothing of the burning of widows, but it is not so 
generally known that persons now alive remember human sacrifices 
in the holy places near Calcutta ; and that a very respectable man 
of my acquaintance, himself by accident and without the means 
of interfering, witnessed one of a boy of fourteen or fifteen, in 
which nothing was so terrible as the perfect indifference with 
which the tears, prayers, and caresses even, which the poor vic- 
tim lavished on his murderers, were regarded. After this it is 
hardly worth while to go on to shew that crimes of rapine, and 
violence, and theft are very common, or that the tendency to ly- 
ing is such that (as one of the judges here observed) " in a court 
of justice they cannot even tell a true story without spoiling it." 
But what I would chiefly urge is, that for all these horrors their 
system of religion is mainly answerable, inasmuch as whatever 
moral lessons their sacred books contain, and they are very few, 
are shut up from the mass of the people, while the direct ten- 
dency of their institutions is to evil. The national temper is de- 
cidedly good, gentle, and kind; they are sober, industrious, affec- 
tionate to their relations, generally speaking faithful to their mas- 
ters, easily attached by kindness and confidence, and in the case 
of the military oath, are of admirable obedience, courage, and 
fidelity in life and death. But their morality does not extend 
beyond the reach of positive obligations ; and where these do not 
exist, they are oppressive, cruel, treacherous, and every thing 
that is bad. We have heard much in England of their humanity 
to animals, I can only say that I have seen no tokens of it in 
Calcutta. 

"fe f& "fa ^£ 

Their high reputation in such matters has arisen, I am assured, 
from exaggerated statements of particular instances, such as may 
happen in any country, of overstrained tenderness for animal life, 
and from the fact that certain sacred animals, such as the bulls 
dedicated to Brahma, are really treated with as much tenderness 
and consideration as if they were Brahmins themselves. As yet it 
remains to be seen how far the schools may produce a change for 
the better. I am inclined to hope every thing from them, parti- 
cularly from those which Mrs. Wilson has, under the auspices of 
the Church Missionaries, set on foot for females ; but I am sure 
that a people such as I have described, with so many amiable 
traits of character, and so great natural quickness and intelligence, 
ought to be assisted and encouraged as far as we possibly can in 
the disposition which they now evince, in this part of the country 
at least, to acquire a knowledge of our language and laws, and to 
imitate our habits and examples. By all which I have learned 
they now really believe we wish them well, and are desirous of 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



241 



their improvement ; and there are many points (that of the burn- 
ing widows is one) in which a change for the better is taking place 
in the public mind, which, if we are not in too great a hurry, 
will probably, ere long, break down the observance of, at least, 
one horror. Do not suppose that I am prejudiced against the 
Hindoos. In my personal intercourse with them I have seen 
much to be pleased with, and all which I hear and believe as to 
what they might be with a better creed, makes me the more ear- 
nest in stating the horrors for which their present creed, as I 
think, is answerable. 

This is an unmerciful letter, but I hope and believe that I shall 
not have wearied you. Both Emily and I often think and talk 
of you, and recall to mind, with deep and affectionate interest, 
our parting on the quarter-deck of the Grenville, with you and 
your brothers. 

^£ 

We more and more feel how much we have relinquished in 
leaving such friends behind ; but I do not, and I hope Emily does 
not, repent of our undertaking. So long as we are blessed with 
health, and of this, with due care, I entertain at present few ap- 
prehensions, we have, indeed, abundant reason for content and 
thankfulness around us, and where there is so much to be learned 
and to be done, life cannot well hang heavy on the hands of 

Dear Harriet, 

Ever your affectionate Cousin, 

Reginald Calcutta. 

I believe I have said nothing of the Mahommedans, who are 
about as numerous here as the Protestants are in Ireland. They 
are in personal appearance a finer race than the Hindoos ; they 
are also more universally educated, and on the whole I think a 
better people, inasmuch as their faith is better. They are haughty 
and irascible, hostile to the English as to those who have supplant- 
ed them in their sovereignty over the country, and notoriously 
oppressive and avaricious in their dealings with their idolatrous 
countrymen wherever they are yet in authority. They are, or 
are supposed to be, more honest, and to each other they are not 
uncharitable; but they are, I fear, less likely at present than the 
Hindoos to embrace Christianity, though some of them read our 
Scriptures ; and I have heard one or two speak of Christians as of 
nearly the same religion with themselves. They have, however, 
contracted in this country many superstitions of castes and images, 
for which their western brethren, the Turks and Arabs, are ready 
to excommunicate them ; and, what is more strange, many of them, 



242 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



equally in opposition to their own religion and that of the Hindoos, 
are exceeding drunkards. 



TO MRS. HEBER. 

Tittyghur, January 25, 1824. 

My dearest Mother, 

Our former packets will, I trust, before this time, have com- 
municated to you the intelligence of our safe arrival, and of our 
subsequent proceedings. 

if % * * ' % % % 

% * * * % * * 

Calcutta is a very striking place, but it so much resembles Pe- 
tersburg, though on a less splendid scale, that I can hardly help 
fancying myself sometimes in Russia. The architecture of the 
principal houses is the same, with Italian porticos, and all white- 
washed or stuccoed, and the width and straightness of the princi- 
pal streets, the want of pavement, the forms of the peasants 1 carts, 
and the crowds of foot-passengers in every street, as well as the 
multitude of servants, the want of furniture in the houses, and 
above all, the great dinner-parties which are one distinguishing 
feature of the place, are all Muscovite. 

% i£ i£ 4? ^ 

The public here is very liberal, but the calls on charity are 
continual, and the number of five and ten pound subscriptions 
which are required of a man every month, for inundations, officers' 
widows, &lc. &c. are such as surprise an Englishman on his first 
arrival, though he cannot but be pleased at the spirit which it 
evinces 

I am happy to set you at ease about pirates. There were, as 
you have been rightly informed, four or five years ago, a good 
many Arab pirates in the Bombay seas, but none that I have heard 
of ever ventured into the bay of Bengal, and even those who did 
exist are said to have been completely driven from the sea by the 
expedition which was sent some time back from Bombay against 
the Arabs of the Persian gulf. But with these seas I shall have 
little concern, since my journeys in that quarter will be chiefly 
by land. Those which 1 have to perform in this part of India will 
be mostly hj the Ganges, on which sculking thieves are sometimes 
met with, but no robbers bold enough to attack European boats. 
I should have much preferred marching by land the whole way, 
as we at first proposed, but I found it impossible to leave Calcut- 
ta before the weather would have become too hot for such a jour- 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



243 



ney. At the commencement of the rains we shall set out, and boat 
it all the way to Cawnpoor. The boats are like houses, and as 
comfortable as such things well can be ; but our progress, by this 
method, will be very tedious and wearisome, compared with the 
amusement of a land journey with our tents and elephants. We 
shall, however, escape the rains, which is reckoned the only un- 
healthy season in Bengal, when every road is a puddle, and every 
field a marsh, and every river a sea, and when a hot sun, playing 
on a vast surface of water and decayed vegetables, is regarded as 
the cause of almost all the diseases which are not brought on by 
intemperance and carelessness. 

,% % * % % 

My morning rides are very pleasant ; my horse is a nice, quiet, 
good-tempered little Arab, who is so fearless that he goes, with- 
out starting, close to an elephant, and so gentle and docile, that 
he eats bread out of my hand, and has almost as much attachment 
and coaxing ways as a dog. This seems the usual character of 
the Arab horse, who (to judge from those I have seen in this 
country,) is not the fiery dashing animal I had supposed, but with 
more rationality about him, and more apparent confidence in his 
rider, than the generality of English horses. The latter, how- 
ever, bear the highest price here, from their superior size, and 
power of going through more work. The Indian horses are sel- 
dom good, and always ill-tempered and vicious ; and it is the ne- 
cessity of getting foreign horses which makes the expense so great 
as you have heard, while after all, in this climate, four horses 
will not do so much work as a pair in England. 

Believe me, dearest Mother, 

Your affectionate son, 

Reginald Calcutta. 

I rejoice to hear that Mr. Puller is coming out as Chief Jus- 
tice. He is a kind and worthy man, and will, I think, be very po- 
pular here, as well as be an agreeable and friendly neighbour to us. 



TO THE VERY REV. THE DEAN OF ST. ASAPH. 

January 27, 1824. 

My dear sir, 

In my last letter I promised you that this should be a political 
one. I know not, after all, now that I am sitting down to the 
Vol. II.— 31 



244 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



task, that I have been able to acquire any information which will 
be new to you, or that I am as yet qualified to speak other- 
wise than with great hesitation as to the real state even of a 
small part of this great empire. From all external enemies, 
British India (now comprehending either directly or indirectly 
three-fourths of the whole vast peninsula,) appeared, till lately, 
secure. The Maharattas are completely conquered and heart- 
broken ; the kings of Oude and Hydrabad only hold their 
places at our will and pleasure ; and their subjects desire no- 
thing so much as that we should take the government of both 
countries into our own hands, while Russia is regarded as so 
distant a danger, that, during the latter years of Lord Hastings' 
government, and in fact to the present moment, the army of In- 
dia has been allowed to melt away, and is now, as I am as- 
sured, perhaps the least numerous establishment (in comparison 
with the population, extent, and revenues of the countries whence 
it is raised and supported,) that any civilized empire in the world 
can shew. It seems, however, that war with a new, and by no 
means a despicable enemy, is now inevitable, and has indeed al- 
ready begun. The King of Ava, whose territories under the name 
of the "Birman empire," you will see marked in all the recent 
maps, has been long playing the same Buonapartean game in what 
is called " India beyond the Ganges," (though in fact removed 
many hundred miles from that river,) which we have been play- 
ing in Hindoostan. His dominions had, till now, been separated 
from ours by a line of mountains and forests, which prevented al- 
most all intercourse either peaceable or hostile ; but by the recent 
conquest . of the country of Assam and some other mountain Raja&, 
he has pushed himself into the immediate neighbourhood of Ben- 
gal, and has begun to hold a language about frontiers, neutral 
grounds, and ancient claims of the "golden empire, 1 ' which the 
English in India are quite unaccustomed to hear, and which it 
would be still more inconvenient to admit for a single moment. 
I believe, indeed, his actual demands are limited to a little swampy 
island, no more worth fighting for than that which was the cause 
of Fortinbras's armament. But this island, such as it is, has been 
in the hands of the Company, and the soubahdars of Bengal before 
them, time out of mind, and is also clearly on the western side of 
the main stream of the little river which divides the empires. Nor 
is this all, since in the course of the discussiou some menaces have 
been held out, that the "golden empire" has further demands 
which the great moderation of its sovereign only induces him to 
refrain from pressing, and that all Bengal as far as Calcutta and 
Moorshedabad ought to be ceded to him. Lord Amhurst, who, 
as well as the directors at home, is sufficiently anxious for peace, 
expected, however, that firmly and civilly saying no, would have 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



245 



been sufficient (together with placing a small garrison on the dis- 
puted island, which has, after all, been again withdrawn on ac- 
count of the pestiferous air,) to preserve matters on their former 
footing of grumbling and uneasy tranquillity. He has, however, 
been disappointed, since he heard yesterday that two Birman 
corps had advanced into the neutral ground of Cashar, one of 
which had been in consequence attacked by a small body of se- 
poys stationed on our frontier, and defeated with some loss, but 
after a resistance which shews that our new enemies are in every 
thing but arms and discipline far from despicable, and decidedly 
superior in courage and bodily strength to the generality of those 
to whom we have been as yet opposed in India. It is indeed 
possible, though barely so, that this first experience of bayonets 
and disciplined troops, may not have been of a nature to increase 
their desire for further communication of the kind. But more 
likely, the check has been too slight to produce such an effect 
on troops who are found to be brave and hardy, and a King who 
has been engaged in a long course of conquest, and has never met 
with his match till now. Should the war go on, it is some com- 
fort to believe that we have right on our side. Yet it is a griev- 
ous matter that blood should be shed, and all the other horrors 
of an Asiastic war incurred to an extent which cannot be cal- 
culated, for a spot of ground so unhealthy, that neither English 
nor Birmans can live on it, and by two governments, each of 
whom has more territory than it can well manage. The East 
India Company, however, and their servants and subjects, have 
reason to be thankful that the " Golden Sword 11 slept in its scab- 
bard while Lord Hastings was engaged with the whole forces 
of the empire, against the Pindarries, Maharattas, and Nepaulese, 
since an inroad of the warlike barbarians* would then have 
caused well-founded alarm to Chittagong, at least, if not to Decca 
and even Calcutta. The truth, however, is, that the Birmans 
were then occupied in the preliminary subjugation of Assam. 
With such a war impending, you will naturally ask, how far the 
British government can count on the affections of its own sub- 
jects ? This is a question which it is not very easy to answer. 
Any thing like our European notions of loyalty or patriotism, I 
fancy, is out of the case. Indeed, from the frequent changes of 
masters, to which all India has been long exposed, I doubt, from 
all which I have heard, whether the idea exists among them, any 
otherwise than that the native soldiers are, for the most part, ad- 
mirably faithful to the government (whatever it may be) which 
they have engaged to serve, so long as that government performs 
its stipulations to them ; and that if a country, under a bad and 
oppressive government, is attacked, the invader^ camp would be 
better supplied with provisions than if the peasants supposed that 



246 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



they would be losers by his success. The idea of guerillas rising 
to oppose a foreign enemy would never enter into the head of a 
Hindoo, or if any such bodies of men were formed, they would 
be as professed plunderers, equally formidable to all parties, or as 
mercenaries, ready to accept pay from any who might entertain 
them. But among the sepoys, nobody seems to apprehend a 
hreach of faith, and, from all which I have been able to learn, the 
peasantry and merchants are extremely well content with us, and 
prefer our government very much to that of any existing Asiatic 
sovereign. The great increase of population in Bengal and Ba- 
her, the number of emigrants which come thither from all parts 
of India, the extent of fresh ground annually brought into cultiva- 
tion, and the ostentation of wealth and luxury among the people, 
which under the native princes no one (except the immediate ser- 
vants of government) ventures to shew, seem still more convincing- 
proofs that they are, on the whole, wisely and equitably govern- 
ed. The country (as far as T have yet seen, and every body tells 
me it is the same through all Bengal,) is divided into estates general- 
ly of a considerable size, called " Zeminda^ies," from " Zemin- 
dar, 1 ' a landholder, held immediately of government, on payment 
of a rate which was fixed by Lord Cornwallis, and does not in- 
crease with any fresh improvement or inclosure. These lands 
may be sold or divided by the proprietors, remaining subject to 
the tax, but cannot be touched by the government so long as the 
tax is paid. The great Zemindars generally live in Calcutta, or 
the other cities, where some of them have very splendid palaces, 
under-letting their territories to dewans or stewards, answering 
to what the Scots call tacksmen, who, as well as the smaller land- 
holders, generally occupy dingy brick buildings, with scarcely 
any windows, and looking a little like deserted manor-houses in 
England. Placed in the middle of the villages, (whose bamboo 
huts seem far cooler and cleaner dwellings,) they are overhung 
with a dark and tangled shade of fruit-trees, and surrounded by 
stables, cow-houses, threshing-floor, circular granaries raised on 
posts, and the usual litter of a dirty and ill-managed farm ; but 
the persons who reside in them are often really very wealthy, 
and when we meet them on horseback on a gala-day, with their 
trains of servants, their splended shawls, and gold and silver trap- 
pings, might almost meet the European notion of an eastern Ra- 
ja. Under them the land is divided into a multitude of small 
tenements, of which the cultivators are said to be often racked 
very high, though they are none of them attached to the soil, but 
may change, if aggrieved, to any landlord who is likely to use 
them better. Round the villages there are large orchards of man- 
goes, coco-nuts, and plaintains, together with many small crofts 
enclosed with fences of aloes, prickly pear, and sometimes pine- 



CORRESPONDENCE. 247 

apples, and cultivated with hemp, cotton, sugar-canes, mustard, 
gram, and of late years, with potatoes and some other kinds of 
European vegetables. All beyond this is rice, cultivated in large 
open fields annually overflowed by the Ganges, or the many ca- 
nals which are drawn from it, and divided into little portions, or 
quiltets, not laid out like our corn-fields in ridge and furrow, but 
on a flat surface, the soil being returned to its place after the 
crop is dibbled in, and intersected by small ledges of earth, both 
to mark property and to retain the water a sufficient time on the 
surface. There is no pasture-ground. The cattle, sheep, an A 
goats are allowed, during the day, to pick up what they can find 
in the orchards, stubbles, and fallows, and along the road sides, 
but at night are always fetched up and fed with gram. No ma- 
nure is employed, the dung being carefully collected for fuel, (ex- 
cept what little is used by the devout to rub their faces and bo- 
dies with,) nor, with an occasional fallow (and this is, I under- 
stand, but seldom,) is any other manure required than what the 
bountiful river affords. I have not yet seen them at plough, but 
am told that their instruments are the rudest that can be conceived ; 
and, indeed, their cattle are generally too small and weak to drag 
any tackle which is not extremely light and simple ; yet their crops 
are magnificent, and the soil, though much of it has been in constant 
cultivation beyond the reach of history, continues of matchless fer- 
tility. No where, perhaps, in the world, is food attained in so 
much abundance, and with, apparently, so little laboilr. Few 
peasants work more than five or six hours in the day, and half 
their days are Hindoo festivals, when they will not work at all. 

Rent is higher than I expected to find it ; in this neighbourhood 
six rupees, about twelve shillings the English acre, seems an 
usual rate, which is a great sum among the Hindoos, and also 
when compared with the cheapness of provisions and labour, 
about sixpence being as much as a working man can earn, even 
as a porter, and three-pence being the pay of a labourer in hus- 
bandry, while ordinary rice is, at an average, less than a half- 
penny for the weight of two pounds English. In consequence 1 
do not apprehend that the peasantry are ill off, though, of course, 
they cannot live luxuriously. Fish swarm in every part of the 
river, and in every tank and ditch. During the wet months they 
may be scooped up with a hand-net in every field, and procured, 
at all times, at the expense of a crooked nail and a little plan- 
tain thread. They, therefore, next to rice and plaintains, 
constitute the main food of the country. Animal food all the 
lower castes of Hindoos eat whenever they can get it, beef and 
veal only excepted ; but, save fish, this is not often in their power. 
Except food, in such a climate their wants are of course but few/ 
Very little clothing serves, and even this is more worn from de- 



248 - CORRESPONDENCE. 

cency than necessity. They have no furniture, except a cane 
bedstead or two, and some earthen or copper pots ; but they have 
a full allowance of silver ornaments, coral beads, &c, which 
even the lowest ranks wear to a considerable value, and which 
seem to imply that they are not ill off for the necessaries of life, 
when such superfluities are within their reach. I have not yet 
been able to learn the exact amount of the land-tax paid to go- 
vernment. The other taxes are on cotton, mustard-oil, charcoal, 
and, in general, the different articles brought to market, except 
rice and fruit ; they are not high, at least they would not be 
thought so in Europe ; and of the whole thus collected, one half 
is laid out in making and repairing roads, bridges, tanks, canals, 
and other public works. The Company have a monopoly of 
salt and opium, the former being only made at the public works, 
the latter grown on the public domains. The former is, how- 
ever, sold at a rate which, in England, we should think low, 
about four shillings the bushel ; and the latter is chiefly for ex- 
portation. Justice is, as you are aware, administered in Calcutta 
by the Supreme Court, according to English law, but elsewhere 
by local judges appointed by the Company, from whom an ap- 
peal lies to separate court at Calcutta, called the Sudder De- 
wannee, which is guided by the Hindoo and Mussulman code, 
drawn up by Sir W. Jones. Of the English criminal law, those 
Hindoos with whom I have conversed speak highly, and think 
it a great security to live in Calcutta where this prevails. 
The local judges (who are all English) are often very popular, 
and in general the people seem to allow that justice is honestly 
administered ; and my informants have spoken of the advantages 
possessed in these respects by the Company's subjects over 
those of Oude, or their own former condition under the Mussul- 
mans. In these points I have drawn my information partly from a 
few of the wealthy natives, who occasionally visit me, partly from 
my own servants, whom 1 have encouraged to speak on such sub- 
jects, in some small degree from what I have picked up in my 
rides and walks round this place, and still more, from the differ- 
ent missionaries who mix with the lower classes, and speak their 
language more fluently than most Europeans besides. Perhaps, 
as 1 myself improve in the language, I may find that I have been 
in some points misinformed or mistaken, but I think the accounts 
which I have had seem not unlikely to be correct, and their result 
is decidedly favourable both as to the general condition of this 
country, and the spirit in which it is governed With re- 

gard to the questions which have lately occupied a good deal of 
the public attention, the free press, and the power of sending back 
Europeans to England at pleasure, so far as these bear on the con- 
dition of the natives, and the probable tranquillity of the country, 



I 



CORRESPONDENCE. 249 

I have more to say than I have now time for. On the whole, I 
think it still desirable that, in this country, the newspapers should 
be licensed by government, though from the increased interest 
which the Hindoos and Mussulmans take in politics, and the evi- 
dent fermentation which, either for good or evil, is going on in the 
public mind, I do not think the measure can be long continued. 
But the power of deportation is, I am convinced, essential to the 
public peace. Many of the adventurers who come hither from 
Europe, are the greatest profligates the sun ever saw; men whom 
nothing but despotism can manage, and who, unless they were 
really under a despotic rule, would insult, beat, and plunder the 
natives without shame or pity. Even now many instances occur 
of insult and misconduct, for which the prospect of immediate 
embarkation for Europe is the most effectual precaution or reme- 
dy. It is in fact the only controul which the Company possesses 
over the tradesmen and ship-builders in Calcutta, and the indigo 
planters up the country. 

Believe me, dear Sir, 

Ever your obliged and affectionate, 

R. Calcutta. 

Tittyghur, Jan. 27, 1824. 



TO SIR ROBERT H. INGLIS, BART. 

Tittyghur, January 27, 1824, 

My dear Inglis, 

I have not now time to write more than a few lines, yet I think 
you will not be sorry to hear of our well-doing. 

•yf. ^ ^ ^ _ ^ 

Out of the fort and streets of Calcutta, which are, and always 
must be, "black holes," the climate of India is, at this season, re- 
ally delightful, and scarcely to be equalled, I think, by any which 
Europe can offer. But alas, the time is again drawing near when 
we must descend from Meru Mountain, to dwell, for four months^ 
at least, " with a fire in our heart, and a fire in our brain," for 
such the approaching hot season is represented to be. I am, 
however, well content with my situation, and almost all its cir- 
cumstances : and though the good to be done must be, for the most 
part, of a very silent kind, and one whose fruits may not be ap- 
parent till the present race of husbandmen, and, possibly, many 
after them, shall be gone to rest, yet any man may count himself 
highly honoured in being thought worthy to labour here, how- 



250 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



ever obscurely. A good deal of my attention, during my short 
residence, has been paid to the different sects of Oriental Chris- 
tians, particularly the Greeks and Armenians, of whom a greater 
number than I had expected reside both in Calcutta and Decca, 
and of whom many solitary individuals are scattered all over the 
East. I find their clergy well pleased by being noticed, and not 
unwilling to borrow books, &c. and trust that, eventually, some 

more extensive good may be done by these means. 

* % * * 

^£ 

Dear Inglis, 

ever your obliged and faithful friend, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO THE REV. E. T. S. HORNBY. 

February 5, 1824.. 

My dear Friend, 

^ *f ^ ifc 

Among the clergy I have several well-informed and amiable 
men, who are sincerely zealous in their calling, and active in the 
improvement both of their own countrymen, and the heathen. 
We are, however, sadly too few for the work before us. Of the 
small number of Chaplains which the Company supplies, nearly 
half are absent on furlough for ill health, and the few missionaries 
are quite unequal to supply the vacancies thus occasioned in ma- 
ny important stations, even if it were possible or desirable to with- 
draw them from their appropriate sphere of action, and, more 
particularly, from the management of those schools which are, of 
all others, the most likely means to open the eyes, and ameliorate 
the worldly and spiritual condition of the vast multitudes who are 
now not merely willing to receive, but absolutely courting, in- 
struction. It is, in fact, the want of means on the part of the 
teachers, and not any of that invincible repugnance so often sup- 
posed to exist on the part of the Hindoos, which, in my opinion, 
must make the progress of the Gospel slow in India. Those who 
think otherwise have, I suspect, either never really desired the 
improvement which they affect to regard as impossible, or by 
raising their expectations, in the first instance, too high, have been 
the cause of their own disappointment. We cannot work mira- 
cles, and it is idle to suppose that thirty or forty Missionaries, (for 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



251 



this is, perhaps, the full number, including all Protestant sects 
throughout all India,) can have, in ten or a dozen years, (for a 
longer time has scarcely occurred since the work was set about in 
good earnest,) so much as conveyed the name of the Gospel to 
more than a very small part of a nation containing 100,000,000 
inhabitants, and scattered over a country of 1,500,000 square 
miles. It is no less idle to expect that any nation, or any great 
numbers in a nation, will change the ancient system of faith at 
once, or otherwise than by very slow degrees, and with great 
reluctance, a reluctance not likely to be lessened when the new 
creed is offered them by a race of foreign conquerors, speaking 
their language, for the most part very imperfectly. But we have 
found, in spite of these obstacles, that some Hindoos and Mussul- 
mans of respectable rank, and considerable acquirements, (few, 
indeed, in number, but enough to shew that the thing is not im- 
possible,) have, from motives the most obviously disinterested, 
(since nothing is to be got by turning Christian but the ill-will of 
their old friends, and, in most instances hitherto, the suspicion 
and discountenance of their new rulers,) embraced and adhered 
to Christianity. It is obvious, even to a careless observer, that, 
in Bengal at least, the wealthier natives are imitating the English 
in very many particulars in dress, buildings, and domestic econo- 
my, and that a change, either for evil or good, of a most extensive 
and remarkable nature is fermenting in the native mind; and lam 
convinced, from the success of the experiment so far as it has yet 
been tried, that nothing but the want of means prevents the intro- 
duction of schools, like those now supported in the neighbourhood 
of Calcutta and at Burdwan, by the Society for Promoting Chris- 
tian Knowledge, and the Church Missionary Society, in every 
village of Bengal, not only with the concurrence, but with the 

gratitude of the natives. 

******* 

******* 

Meantime you must not suppose that the cares of a preacher 
of the Gospel can apply to the heathen only; a very numerous 
population of nominal Christians is rising round us, the children 
of European fathers and native women, who have been, till lately, 
shamefully neglected, but who shew a readiness to receive instruc- 
tion, and a zeal, generally speaking, for the faith and the Church 
establishment of the parent country, which should make that 
country blush for the scanty aids which she has hitherto afforded 
them. From these a considerable proportion of my congregations 
in Calcutta are made up, and of these, 235 young persons whom 
I confirmed there the day before yesterday, chiefly consisted. All 
these are circumstances which may well encourage a man to ex- 
ert himself. 

Vol. II.— 32 



552 CORRESPONDENCE. 

# # * * # * * 

Adieu, dear Hornby; let me hope sometimes to hear from you, 
and believe me, 

Ever your affectionate friend, 

Reginald Calcutta. 




TO MISS TODD. 

Tittyghur, February 26, 18.24. 

Such, my dear Charlotte, is a fair sample of the appearance 
and condition of some forty millions of peasantry subject to British 
rule; very poor, as their appearance sufficiently indicates, at least 
in those points where an Englishman places his ideas of comfort 
and prosperity. Yet not so poor, and not by any means so rude 
and wild as their scanty dress and simple habitations would at 
first lead an Englishman to imagine. The silver ornaments which 
the young woman wears on her ancles, arms, forehead, and in her 
nose, joined to the similar decorations on her children's arms 
would more than buy all the clothes and finery of the smartest 
servant-girl in England, — and the men are, in all probability, well 
taught in reading and writing, after their own manner, while the 
little boy, perhaps, is one of my scholars, and could cast an ac- 
count and repeat the Lord's Prayer with any child of the same 
age in England. The plant which overshadows the cow and goat 
is a bamboo, the tall palm in the distance is a coco, that which 
hangs over the old mother of the family is a plantain, and the 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



253 



creeper on the thatched cottage a beautiful fast growing gourd, of 
the very kind I could fancy which obtained so fast hold on Jonah's 
affections. The style of carrying the child astride on one hip, the 
manner in which the water-pot is balanced, and the red paint, a 
mark of caste, as well as the diminutive size and high hump of the 
cow, what we usually see here ; and though the groupe itself is 
from fancy, all the different objects are as faithful representations 
of nature as my skill enabled me to make. The sketch may give 
you some little idea of the scenes we meet with in our morn- 
ing rides. 

# # * * * 

# * * * * 

At present I am not aware that I have much news to tell you, 
or that I have many circumstances to add to the description of 
Bengal which I have already furnished. Our lives for the last six 
weeks have been passed in great general retirement, 

l^f 

# * * # # 

but so much and so many things are to be done, that I am often 
completely tired out before the day is ended, and yet have to re- 
gret many omissions. One considerable source of labour has been 

the number of sermons I have had to compose. 

# * #■ * # 

There is so grievious a want of Chaplains on the Bengal esta- 
blishment, that both the Archdeacon and myself are obliged to 
reach quite as often, and sometimes oftener, in the Sunday, than 
ever did at Hodnet. 

^£ "fa 

The country is now splendidly beautiful. The tall timber trees 
which delighted us with their shade and verdure when we land- 
ed, are now many of them covered, with splendid flowers, literal- 
ly hot-house flowering shrubs, thirty or forty feet high, and the 
fragrance of a drive through the park at Barrackpoor, is answera- 
ble to the dimensions of this Brobdignag parterre. Some of the 
trees, and those large ones too, lose their leaves entirely at this 
season, throwing out large crimson and yellow flowers in their 
place. 

* # # % * # # 

* * * * * * * 

Believe me ever your faithful and affectionate friend. 

Reginald Calcutta. 



254 CORRESPONDENCE. 

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES W. WILLIAMS WYNN. 

Calcutta, May 27, 1824. 

My dear Wynn, 

I have two most kind and interesting letters to thank you 
for. 

# # * * * 

I have now, alas ! to announce the death of the poor chief-justice, 
who, after a week's struggle with one of the country fevers, but 
too common at this time of year, breathed his last yesterday 
morning, at a little after four, having enjoyed his office in India 
exactly, even to. a day, the same time, six weeks, which his pre- 
decessor did. For the last thirty-six hours he had been, general- 
ly speaking, delirious, having from the beginning exhibited symp- 
toms of a tendency of blood to the head ; but down to that time I 
had seen him every day, and though he was much reduced, had 
few apprehensions that the disorder would take so malignant a turn. 
He was buried yesterday evening, (for in this climate no lying- 
in-state is ever thought of,) with the usual military honours, and 
attended to his grave by a more than the usual shew of the mili- 
tary functionaries of Calcutta. I read the service, and all the 
Clergy attended. He had already become a great and general fa- 
vourite, both with Europeans and natives, from his cordial and 
friendly manners, the sensible and unaffected way in which he 
had commenced his judicial functions, and (with the natives more 
particularly) from the pains he, like poor Blosset, was taking to 
learn the language. Lady Puller has borne up admirably ; her 
boy has been a great comfort to her, and has evinced, in his whole 
conduct, a very amiable and affectionate disposition, and a self- 
command, judgment, and discrimination beyond his years. 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

She has determined, and I think wisely, to return by the same 
vessel, the Paget, which brought them out ! The contrast will, 
indeed, be very painful, between her situation now, and what it was 
then, but both she and her husband were much pleased with the 
conduct of the Paget's captain (Geary), and she will probably find 
herself less forlorn with him than among total strangers. We 
asked them to our house, and they had a similar invitation from 
Lord Amherst, but they have preferred remaining during the short 
time which they spend in India in the government house in Fort 
William, in which they had succeeded us. Poor Puller was un- 
fortunate in arriving at the worst season of the year, and a season 
which, every body says, has been peculiarly hot and unwholesome. 
Some days, indeed, during this month have been almost deserving 
the name of " terrible." By shutting all the windows close, by 
darkening the room to the lowest ebb of visibility, and sitting as 



/ 



CORRESPONDENCE. 355 

lightly dressed as possible under the constant ventilation of a pun- 
kah, one got through the morning pretty well, and I found no 
want of disposition or ability either to write or study. But if a 
window or a door was opened, the stream of hot air came in, 
without the least exaggeration, like what you may have felt at 
the mouth of a blast furnace. Had our kind-hearted friend arrived 
in a more favourable season he might perhaps have been spared 
to us. But these thoughts are worse than idle. 

The air has beeu within these few days greatly cooled by some 
pretty strong north-westers, with their usual accompaniments of 
thunder, (and swcA, thunder !) lightening, and rain. One of these 
storms, I regret to say, has blown down a large range of brick 
stabling at Benares, and killed several men and many horses. But 
at Calcutta they have done no harm that I have heard of, while 
their reviving effects on man, beast, bird, and vegetable, have 
really been little less than magical. These showers are now, in- 
deed, becoming more frequent and attended with less wind, and 
an early setting-in of the rain is predicted, of which I hope to take 
advantage for my voyage up the country. My journey, alas ! will 
not be so pleasant as I anticipated, since, on the concurrent re- 
presentations of all our medical advisers, my wife and children 

remain behind, and we shall be separated for half a year at least. 
* * % # % % % 

Dacca will be the first place 1 shall visit ; there is a church to 
consecrate there ; a good many candidates for confirmation, and 
some Greek Christians with whom I wish to get on the same 
amicable terms as I am with their countrymen at Calcutta. Nor 
am I insensible to the desire of seeing one of the most ancient and 
singular cities of India, and of obtaining a nearer view of the 
Sunderbunds, the main stream of the Ganges, and the yet mightier 
Megna. 

1 held my first visitation this morning at six o'clock, to avoid 
the heat of the day. We had the first fruits of the Gentile Church 
in India, in the person of Christian David, a black catechist in 
Ceylon, and a pupil of the celebrated Schwartz, whom, at the de- 
sire of Sir Edward Barnes, I admitted to Deacon's orders. The 
poor man, who had journeyed to Calcutta, via Madras, to obtain 
them, is really a very clever, and at the same time a most simple 
and artless creature. He knows no Latin, but speaks English, 
Tamul, Cingalese, and Portuguese fluently, and passed a good, 
though a very Indian and characteristic examination. He is to dine 
with me to-day to meet the Company's Chaplains and Church 
of England Missionaries, as usual on visitation days, and the 
business being in some degree the triumph of the episcopal cause 
in the east, I have also asked the Protopapas of the Greeks, the 
Archimandrite of the Armenians, with certain of their subordi- 



256 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



nate monks from mount Sinai and Nakitchavan. It will be an 
odd party, but the fact is that I have been sometimes tempted to 
flatter myself with the hopes of effectually " reconciling' 1 them. 
At least I think it not impossible for the Church of England to 
acquire a sort of influence over their minds, separated as they 
are by a vast interval from their own ecclesiastical superiors, 
which may enable us to do them much good, and to convey much 
valuable instruction to them, which they otherwise would be very 
slow to receive from us. 

Adieu, dear Wynn, 
Believe me ever your obliged and affectionate friend, 

Reginald Calcutta 

God bless you once more ! In proportion as friends drop off, 
those who are left become doubly dear. I have mourned for 
poor Puller sincerely, but what should I do for you ? 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 



On the Chundnah, June 28, 1824. 

My dear Love, 

We are still in this labyrinth of rivers, and likely to be several 
days yet before we reach Dacca. Mr. Master, however, has 
kindly forwarded your packets to me, and I write back by his 
dak-boat, which, being small and light, will be there on Wednes- 
day. Thank you for your interesting letter. I never recollect 
seeing your hand-writing with more or so much delight as now, 
since it arrived quite unexpectedly, and I had no hopes of hearing 
of you before the end of the week. 

The stream of all these rivers, or nearly all, has been against 

us ; and we had in one place a bar of sand to cut through, which 

has made our journey very tedious, though through a country, 

generally speaking, as beautiful as groves and meadows can make 

it. You will, I hope, ere this, have received my second packet 

of Journal ; the third I will send from Dacca. We are both, I 

think, gaining health fast. 

***** 

If you and my dear children were with me, I should enjoy this 
way of life much. Our weather has been, generally, good, and 
all has gone on well. 

4* if 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



257 



This course has, certainly, been a long one ; but I am, on the 
whole, not sorry that I preferred it. It has shewn me a part of 
Bengal not usually traversed by Europeans, and decidedly, I 
think, the most beautiful. We have had, indeed, no more adven- 
tures like our " audience" at Sibnibashi, but I have some things 
to send which I trust will amuse you, and 1 have had opportuni- 
ties of making four large drawings. 

Your affectionate husband, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Dacca, July 10, 1824. 

Poor Stowe has had a very severe recurrence of dysentery. 
He complained of it in some degree on Saturday, so that T left 
him wind-bound in the pinnace, rather than expose him to the 
chance of a wetting by taking him on in the jolly-boat to Dacca, 
an expedient to which I myself resorted on that day, in order to 
be in time for church on Sunday. On Sunday evening he arrived, 
but so ill that we had some difficulty in getting him out of his 
cabin to Mr. Master's house. 

^ ^ ^ 

I am quite well, except that my shins, which 1 could not help 
exposing to the heat of the sun in the little boat, were both burnt 
in the same way as if T had been sitting before a great fire. 

Dr. Todd, the principal surgeon in the station has considered 
Stowe as in some danger, but to-day his opinion is more favoura- 
ble. Pray tell his sister (though I hope it is almost needless) that 
he has, and shall have, from me, as great attention and tenderness 
as a brother can shew. . T sit in his room as much as I 

can, with my books and writing. I read to him when he is able to 
attend, and we converse from time to time, while he has more 
liking for the tea, egg-wine, &c. which I make for him, than for 
what his.nurse prepares. 

t£ ^* ^ y£ 

I have had the Confirmation this morning ; about twenty-nine 
persons attended, all adults. 

Assure Miss Stowe that her brother shall, in no case, be hur- 
ried ; and that I will not leave Dacca till he can accompany me ; 
or should so long a journey be thought too much for him, till he is 



258 .CORRESPONDENCE. 

actually out of all danger, arid able to return to Calcutta with 
safety and propriety. 

Adieu ! 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES W. WILLIAMS WYNN. 

Dacca, July 13, 1824. 

My dear Wynn, 

I sent, a few days since, an official letter to Mr. Courtenay, an- 
nouncing the intention of Archdeacon Barnes to resign as soon as 
his ten years are expired, and his hope that he may be permitted 
to receive his pension from the date of such resignation. By all 
which I hear of him in India, he is well deserving of any favour 
which ministers may be able to shew him. 

^ ^£ 

Should the friend who now addresses you sink to his last sleep 
by some jungle side, I have often thought (your kindness encour- 
ages me to take this liberty,) that few men would be better quali- 
fied, from experience, and good sense, and good character, to give 
satisfaction to the clergy and governments of India. If I am 
spared to see him, which I hope to do in February next, I may, 

perhaps give you more information. 

* * ■% * * * 

You will have learned, from a former letter, my intention of 
setting out on a visitation of Bengal, Bombay, and possibly Cey- 
lon, and the date of my present will shew you that I am already 

advanced some little way in my journey. 

* * * i # *• * 

Two-thirds of the vast area of Dacca are filled with ruins, 
some quite desolate and overgrown with jungle, others yet occu- 
pied by Mussulman chieftains, the descendants of the followers of 
Shah Jehanguire, and all of the " Lions of war," " Prudent and 
valiant Lords," " Pillars of the Council," " Swords of Battle," 
and whatever other names of Cawn, Emir, or Omrah, the court 
of Delhi dispensed in the time of its greatness. These are to me 
a new study. I had seen abundance of Hindoo Baboos, and some 
few Rajas in Calcutta. But of the 300,000 inhabitants who yet 
roost like bats in these old buildings, or rear their huts amid their 
desolate gardens, three-fourths are still Mussulmans, and the few 
English, and Arminian, and Greek Christians who are found here, 
are not altogether more than sixty or eighty persons, who live 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



259 



more with the natives, and form less of an exclusive society, than 
is the case in most parts of British India. All the Mussulmans of 
rank whom I have yet seen, in their comparatively fair com- 
plexions, their graceful and dignified demeanour, particularly on 
horseback, their shewy dresses, the martial curl of their whiskers, 
and the crowd, bustle, and ostentation of their followers, far out- 
shine any Hindoos ; but the Calcutta Baboos leave them behind 
toto cmlo, in the elegance of their carriages, the beauty of their 
diamond rings, their Corinthian verandahs, and the other outward 
signs of thriving and luxury. Yet even among these Mahomme- 
dans, who have, of course, less reason to like us than any other 
inhabitants of India, there is a strong and growing disposition to 
learn the English language, and to adopt, by degress, very many 

of the English customs and fashions. 

******* 

"fa *fa "fa "fa "fa "fa "fa 

The most whimsical instance of imitation, is, perhaps, that of 
Mirza Ishraf Ali, a Zemindar of 100,000 acres, and with a house 
like a ruinous convent, who in his English notes, signs his heredi- 
tary title of " Kureem Cawn Bahadur" in its initials, K. C. B. 
* * * * * * * 

******* 

Many of the younger Mussulmans of rank, who have no hope 
of advancement either in the army or the state, sooner or later 
sink into sots, or kindle into decoits and rebels. As a remedy for 
this evil, I have heard the propriety suggested of raising corps of 
cavalry of the same description, but of smaller numbers than 
those of Skinner and Baddeley, which might be commanded by 
the natives of highest rank, but kept in the Company's pay, and 
assimilated, as much as possible, to the rest of the army. They 
might easily, it was said, be stationed so as not to be dangerous, 
and at the same time to render regular troops disposable for other 
purposes. The idea somewhat resembles that of Forbes, before 
the year 1745, for raising Highland regiments, and perhaps, it may 
be true that the best way to make men loyal, is to make them re- 
spectable and comfortable, while to keep them employed is most 
likely to keep them out of mischief. They are not, however, 
the great men only, who are inclined to copy the English ; a de- 
sire of learning our language is almost universal even here, and 
in these waste bazars and sheds, where I should never have ex- 
pected any thing of the kind, the dressing-boxes, writing-cases, 
cutlery, chintzes, pistols, and fowling-pieces, engravings, and other 
English goods, or imitations of English, which are seen, evince 
how fond of them the middling and humbler classes are become. 
Here, too, a knowledge of the Christian Scriptures, in spite of 
the Abbe Dubois, is rapidly increasing. A Baptist missionary 

Vol. 11—33 



260 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



has established a circle of 26 day schools, containing more than 
1000 boys, who all read the New Testament as their daily task, 
without any objection being make, . and had the Church of Eng- 
land Societies a missionary at present to spare, he might in a 
month double the number. Of all these, indeed, few will be di- 
rectly converted, but these examples, as well as my own experi- 
ence, (and I think I am now able to form an opinion) convince 
me that the Hindoostanee version, at least, is neither unintelligible 
nor contemptible. If Christian David, indeed, is to be believed, 
and I believe him to be a very honest man, nothing can exceed 
Dubois's mendacity and ignorance even with regard to Malabar 
and Coromandel. But of these countries I trust to know more 
hereafter. 

I have staid longer in Dacca than I intended, owing to the sad 
and severe illness of my poor friend Stowe, who two days before 
we arrived, imprudently exposed himself to the two worst poi- 
sons of the climate, by wading through a marsh while the sun 
was yet high. He has been twelve days ill, and is yet in a very 
precarious state. His illness, indeed, prevented me from writing 
some days ago, but he is now asleep, and I have fled to England, 
shall I say ? or to Wales ? for it is Llangedwin in which my fancy 
always contemplates you with most pleasure. Wherever you 
are, Heaven bless you all, and may you sometimes think of one, 
who though now actually in " India beyond the Ganges," is, and 
ever must be, 

Dear Wynn, 
Your obliged and affectionate friend, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Dacca, July 16, 1824. 

My dear Love, 

All I can say to-day is, that the two surgeons do not think mat- 
ters worse. . . I have prayed with poor Stowe every 
day, at his request, since his illness began ; indeed, we had always 
read the Psalms and Lessons together on board our boat. On 
Sunday, by his own anxious wish, he received the Sacrament 
He is now quite calm, and resigned to God's will, which must, of 
itself, be a favourable circumstance for his bodily restoration. 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



261 



July llth. 

You must prepare poor Miss Stowe for the worst, if that can 
be called the worst, which will be to her brother, I hope and be- 
lieve, a gate of everlasting happiness. He is yet in the full pos- 
session of his intellects, and so strong, considering all he has gOne 
through, that I have been persuaded with difficulty to cease to 
hope. ... I shall feel his loss very deeply. I do 
think, if he lives, with his good talents, good intentions, and the 
additional motives which a recollection of the approach of death, 
and gratitude for his deliverance, may give him, he will be a 
most valuable servant of God in India. . . . Nor 
is it a trifling circumstance of comfort to me, that, if he lives, I 
shall think that my nursing, and his unbounded confidence in me, 
will have been, under God, the chief means of tranquillizing his 
mind, supporting his strength, and saving him. 

God bless you, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Dacca, July 18, 1824. 

Mv dear Wife, 

All is over ! My poor friend was released a little after twelve 
last night. The light-headedness which in dysentery, I find, is 
always a fatal symptom, encreased during the day, though he con- 
tinued to know me, and to do and take whatever I desired him ; 
between nine and ten, he had a severe return of spasm, after 
which he sunk into a tranquil doze till he passed off without a 
groan. I grieve to find by your letter that his sister is set out 
hither ; surely there will yet be time to bring her back again, and 
spare her some of the horrors of a journey made in doubtful 
^ope, and a return in solitude and misery. 

I greatly regreat that any thing in my letters gave encourage- 
ment to her to set off. But I have all along clung, even against 
hope, to the hope of his recovery. 

On the 14th and 15th, he altered much for the worse, and it 
was on the evening of the latter day that he was first convinced 
his end was drawing near, and begged me to be with him when the 
hour came. You will not doubt that I kept my promise, though 
he was not conscious of my presence. As he was fully sensible of 
the approach of death, so he was admirably prepared for it. From 
the very beginning of our journey, we had prayed and read the 



262 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Scriptures together daily ; on the last Sunday which he saw, we 
had received the sacrament together ; I trust I shall never forget 
the deep contrition and humility, the earnest prayer, or the ear- 
nest faith in the mercies of Christ, with which he commended 
himself to God. On Thursday he had an awful mental struggle, 
but confessed his sins, and cried for mercy to Jesus Christ with a 
simplicity, contrition, and humility, which I shall never forget, 
and I trust always be the better for. By degrees his fears be- 
came less, his faith stronger, and his hope more lively ; and he 
told me at many different times, in the following thirty-six hours, 
that God's goodness was making the passage more and more easy 
to him, and that he felt more and more that Christ had died for 
sinners. When his strength was gradually wearing away, he said, 
" If I lose sight of the Cross, though but for a moment, I am rea- 
dy to despair ; but my blessed Lord makes his mercy and his 
power more and more plain to me." The laudanum, which was 
given to him in the course of Friday night, conjured up some 
evil dreams, of which he complained a good deal ; being very 
much worn out myself, I had gone to lie down for an hour or 
two, leaving him asleep, under the care of one of the surgeons. 
He wakened, however, soon after, and called earnestly for me, 
and when I came, threw his arms round my neck, and begged me 
not to leave him. After we had prayed a little together, he said, 
" My head is sadly confused with this horrid drug, but I now re- 
collect all which you told me, and which I nryself experienced 
yesterday, of God's goodness in his Son. Do not let them give 
me any more, for it prevents my praying to God as I could wish 
to do." He spoke very often of his " poor, poor sister," and said, 
" God, who is so good to a sinner like me, will not forget her." 
He asked, which you will not doubt I promised for us both, that 
we would be a sister and a brother to her. He said, not long be- 
fore his light-headedness came on, on Saturday morning, " Tell 
Mrs. Heber that I think of her, and pray for her in this hour." 
After his hallucination commenced, he rambled very much about 
our voyage, but whenever I spoke to him, it recalled him for the 
moment, and he listened, and said Amen, to some of the Church 
prayers for the dying. "It is very strange," he once said, "every 
thing changes round me. I cannot make out where I am, or 
what has happened, but your face I always see near me,. and I 
recollect what you have been saying," The last articulate words 
he uttered were about his sister. Even in this incoherence, it 
was comfortable to find that no gloomy ideas intruded, that he 
kept up some shadow of his hope in God, even when his intellect 
was most clouded, and that his last day of life was certainly, on 
the whole, not a day of suffering. After death, his countenance 



J 



CORRESPONDENCE. 263 

was singularly calm and beautiful, and not like a corpse so much 
as a statue. I myself closed his eyes. 

One lesson has been very deeply imprinted in my heart by 
these few days. If this man's innocent and useful life (for I have 
no reason to doubt that the greater part of his life has been both 
innocent and useful,) offered so many painful recollections, and 
called forth such deep contrition, when in the hour of death he 
came to examine every instance of omission or transgression, how 
careful must We be to improve every hour and every opportuni- 
ty of grace, and so to remember God while we live, that we may 
not be afraid to think on him when dying! And above all, how 
blessed and necessary is the blood of Christ to us all, which was 

poor Stowe's only and effectual comfort. 

%%%%%% 

God bless you, dear love, in your approaching voyage. How 
♦delighted I should be to meet you at Boglipoor. 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Dacca, July 19, 1824. 

Dearest Wife, 

Poor Stowe was buried yesterday in the cemetery which T 
had consecrated just a week before. All the gentlemen of the 
station, as well as the military officers, attended unsolicited, and 
his body was borne to the grave by a detachment of European 
artillerymen, who, though it was the custom on such occasions for 
the coffin to be carried, when out of the city, by native bearers, 
refused to allow any persons but themselves "to touch the gentle- 
man. 1 ' Mr. Parish read the service, and I went as chief mourner. 
Sincerely as I have mourned, and do mourn him continually, the 
moment perhaps at which I felt his loss most keenly was on my 
return to this house. I had always after airings, or other short 
absences, been accustomed to run up immediately to his room to 
ask about his medicines and his nourishment, to find if he had 
wanted any thing during my absence, and to tell him what I had 
seen and heard. And now, as I went up stairs, I felt most pain- 
fully that the object of my solicitude was gone, and that there was 
nobody now to derive comfort or help from my coming, or whose 
eyes would faintly sparkle as I opened the door. I felt my heart 
sick, and inclined to accuse myself, as usual, of not having valued 
my poor friend sufficiently while I had him, and of having paid 




264 CORRESPONDENCE. 

during the voyage too little attention to the state of his health ; 
yet, from the hour I knew he was seriously ill, thank God! I can 
find nothing of wilful neglect to reproach myself with, though 
some things I might have done better, if I had not myself been in 
some respects unwell, and if I had not been constantly occupied 
with business and correspondence. But I hope I did what I could 
during the few last days, and when his danger was told me, 1 gave 
up every thing to him, and neither read nor wrote, nor paid or re- 
ceived visits, nor even went out of his room for a moment, except 
for very short and hurried meals. 

It will be long before I forget the guilelessness of his nature, the 
interest which he felt and expressed in all the beautiful and se- 
questered scenery which we passed through, his anxiety to be use- 
ful to me in any way which 1 could point out to him, (he was in- 
deed very useful,) and above all the unaffected pleasure which he 
took in discussing religious subjects, his diligence in studying the 
Bible, and the fearless humanity with which he examined the case, 
and administered to the wants of nine poor Hindoos, the crew of 
a salt-barge, whom, as I mentioned in my Journal, we found lying 
sick together of a jungle fever, unable to leave the place where 
they lay, and unaided by the neighbouring villagers. I then little 
thought how soon he in his turn would require the aid he gave so 
cheerfully. 

I have been to-day settling his affairs, and looking over his pa- 
pers. I yet hope to hear by to-morrow's post that you have 
been able to prevent his sister's wretched voyage. Adieu, the 
post is going out. 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Dacca, July 21, 1824. 
I have been sadly disappointed at not hearing from you to-day, 
1)ut the cause has been explained by the increase of the inunda- 
tion and the consequent delays of the Dak I 

have, I believe, lost little by these three days' delay, as the wind 
has been contrary, and I, to say the truth, have had so severe a 
boil on the cap of my knee, that I am hardly fit to undertake a 
journey. I have had it coming on some time, and not being able 
to rest it, and irritating it still more by want of sleep, it had be- 
come very painful indeed, and at this moment keeps me a close 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



265 



prisoner. The boat will be a good place for my convalescence ; 
but in the meantime I have been better here. 

Mr. Todd has absolutely refused to receive any fee for his at- 
tendance upoja j?oor Stowe; his conduct has throughout been ad- 
mirable. He seldom failed to call four and sometimes live times a 
day. He latterly always sate with Stowe during the times that I 
was forced to leave him, and he and Mr. Patterson, by turns, sate 
up the greater part of the three last nights, to watch any turn 

which might be taken advantage of. 

Indeed it may be a melancholy comfort to Miss Stowe to know 
how much interest her brother's youth, recent arrival in India, 
and, perhaps, the manner in which his medical attendants spoke 
of him, excited in the whole station. Every day presents of fruits, 
jellies, things which were thought good for him, and books sup- 
posed to be likely to illustrate his case or amuse him, came from 
one quarter or another, not only from the Europeans, but from 
the Nawab and Mirza Israf Ali, while, to Mr. Master's brotherly 
kindness, I am more indebted than I can say. 

And thus ends my visit to Decca ! a place which, more than 
most others in India, I was anxious to visit; my visit to which 
was opposed by obstacles so numerous, and at which I have pass- 
ed, perhaps, the most melancholy and forlorn three weeks I ever 
remember. God's will be done! I have acted, as I thought, for 
the best, and I now go on, though 'alone and sorrowful, with an 
entire trust in His Providence and goodness. To think that I 
may, perhaps, in three weeks more, meet my beloved wife and 
children, is itself enough to give me courage. 

This letter is a sad scrawl, but most of it has been written on 
the bed. I send you another curiosity which arrived to-day from 
two Armenian Bishops of Ecmiazin, at the foot of Mount Ararat, 
and Jerusalem ! What ideas such names would have excited in 
England ! 

Adieu, dear Love ! 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MISS STOWE. 

Furreedpoor, July^ 1824, 
With a heavy heart, my dear Miss Stowe, I send you the en- 
closed keys. How to offer you consolation in your present grief? 
I know not ; for by my own deep sense of the loss of an excellent 
friend, I know how much heavier is your burden. Yet even the 



266 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



many amiable qualities of your dear brother, joined with that 
deep Christian humility and reliance on his Saviour which he 
evinced in his illness, while they make our loss the heavier, should 
lead us to recollect that the loss is ours only ; that, prepared as he 
was to die, it was his unspeakable gain to be removed from a world 
in which he had many sorrows ; and above all, that your separa- 
tion from him will only be for a time, and until He who has hid- 
den him from your eyes shall restore you to his society in a happy 
and eternal state of existence. Separation of one kind or ano- 
ther is, indeed, one of the most frequent trials to which affection- 
ate hearts are exposed. And if you can only regard your brother 
as removed for his own advantage to a distant country, you will 
find, perhaps, some of that misery alleviated under which you now 
are suffering. Had you remained in England when he came out 
hither, you would have been, for a time, divided no less effectual- 
ly than you are now. The difference of hearing from him is almost 
all, and though you now have not that comfort, yet even without 
hearing from him, you may be well persuaded (which there you 
could not always have been) that he is well and happy ; and above 
all, you may be persuaded, as your dear brother was most fully in 
his time of severest suffering, that God never smites his children 
in vain, or out of cruelty. His severest stripes are intended to 
heal, an$ he has doubtless some wise and gracious purpose both 
for your poor Martin and for you, in thus taking him from your 
side, and leaving you in this world, with Himself as your sole 
guardian. 

A mighty and most merciful protector be sure He is, and one 
who always then deals most kindly with us when we are con- 
strained to cast our cares on Him alone, and are most sensible of 
our utter helplessness. This was your brother's comfort ; it should 
be yours; and thus may both he and you have occasion for un- 
speakable joy hereafter, if the mysterious dispensation which has 
deprived you of your brother, serves to bring you to a closer and 
more constant communion with your God. Meantime, in my 
wife and myself, you have friends, even in this remote land, who 
are anxious, as far as we have the power, to supply your brother's 
place, and whose best services you may command as freely as his 

whom you have lost. 

#■ * * %■ * * 

*■ * * * * * 

So long as you choose to remain with us, we will be, to our 
power, a sister and a brother to you. And it may be worth your 
consideration, whether in your present state of health and spirits, 
a journey, in my wife's society, will not be better for you than a 
dreary voyage home. But this is a point on which you must de- 
cide for yourself; I would scarcely venture to advise, far less 



CORRESPONDENCE. 267 

dictate, where I am only anxious to serve. In my dear Emily 
you will already have had a most affectionate and sensible coun- 
sellor. 

****** 
# * * * , * * 

And now farewell ! God support, bless, and comfort you ! Such 
as my prayers are, you have them fervently andsincerely offered. 
But you have better and holier prayers than mine. That the spi- 
rits in Paradise pray for those whom they have left behind, I can- 
not doubt, since I cannot suppose that they cease to love us there; 
and your dear brother is thus still employed in your service, and 
still recommending you to a Throne of Mercy, to the all-suffi- 
cient and promised help of that God who is the Father of the 
fatherless, and of that blessed Son who hath assured us that " they 
who mourn shall be comforted !" 

One more consideration I cannot help addressing to you, though 
it belongs to a subject wrapt up in impenetrable darkness. A 
little before your poor brother ceased to speak at all, and after his 
mind had been for some time wandering, he asked me in a half 
whisper, " Shall I see my sister to-night?" I could not help an- 
swering, though in a different sense, perhaps, from that in which 
he meant the question, that I thought it possible. I know not, 
(indeed, who can know?) whether the spirits of the just are ever 
permitted to hover over those whom they have loved most ten- 
derly ; but if such permission be given, and who can say it is im- 
possible ? then it must greatly increase your brother's present hap- 
piness, and greatly diminish that painful sense of separation which 
even the souls of the righteous may be supposed to feel, if he sees 
you resigned, patient, hopeful, trusting on that same cross which 
was his refuge in the hour of dread, and that good Providence to 
whose care he fervently and faithfully committed you. 

Believe me, dear Miss Stowe, 
Your faithful and affectionate friend and servant, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Furreedpoor, July 28, 1824. 

Alas ! alas ! my beloved wife, what have you not gone through 1 
Your letter of July 24, has just reached me from Dacca. God's 
will be done in all things ! Your joining me is out of the ques- 
tion. But I need not tell you to spare no expense of sea-voyage, 
or any other measure, which may tend to restore or preserve our 

Vol. II.— 34 



268 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



dear children or yourself, so soon as such a measure may appear 
desirable for any of you. . . . . On 

these points I leave you in confidence to the advice c|§ IJr. Abel 
and Mr. Shaw. For the success of their counsels I humbly hope 
in the mercy of God, who has in this heavy visitation preserved 
us from still more bitter sorrow. 

I am, at this moment, strangely tempted to come to you. But 
I fear it might be a compromise of my duty and a distrust of God ! 
I feel most grateful indeed to Him for the preservation of our in- 
valuable treasures. I pray God to bless Lady Amherst, and all 
who are dear to her, and to shew kindness tenfold to her children, 
for all the kindness she has shewn ours. 

I am going on immediately, with a heavy heart indeed, but 
with trust in His mercies. Farewell ! 

• Reginald Calcutta. 



TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ALEXANDER, &C. &C. &C. 

Allahabad, Sept. 24, 1824. 

My dear Sir, 

Many thanks for your kind and friendly letter, as well as for 
the enclosed paper. I am sincerely sorry that you have had so 
much trouble about it, and that from our friend the Archdeacon 
and myself not knowing exactly each other's proceedings, an 
ignorance arising from the illness which kept him while at Chu~ 
nar so nearly close a prisoner, we were at the same time taking 

measures which had a tendency to clash with each other. 

* * * * % 

It is, however, of the less consequence, since circumstances 
have come to my knowledge which make me think it, at the pre- 
sent moment, inexpedient to address government on the subject 
of the Chunar Church, and that the object which we have all of 

us in view, will be, in some degree, obtained by another method. 

* * * * # 

I cannot close my letter without renewing my acknowledg- 
ments for the very agreeable days which I have spent in your 
house and in your society ; and assuring you that I shall long re- 
member with deep interest some passages in our conversation, 
and in the letters which you shewed me. That God may bless 
you and yours in all things, is the earnest wish of 

Dear Colonel, 

Ever your sincere friend, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



269 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Allahabad, Sept. 29, 1824. 

Your letter, and enclosed note, have just reached me at this 
place, where we have been thus long detained for want of tents. 

Alas ! my love, how have you been tried ! Comfortable as 
your last note is, I dare not yet hope that I shall see my lovely 
little Harriet again in this world, for I know the insidious nature 
of the disease. But I shall not return. I have, I feel, duties to 
fulfil here, and, as you truly say, before I could arrive, her doom 
must be sealed, and your burst of grief, in case of the worst, must 
have subsided into a calmer sorrow. God support and comfort 
you ! I am well, and I trust I shall be enabled to be patient and 
resigned. 

* * # * * 

There are rumours of wars in this part of the world, and 
people talk of armies and invasions from the Seiks, Nepal, and 
Nagpoor. I am not very credulous of such reports, but T mention 
them to shew vou that I am aware of them, and will not run into 
needless danger. God bless you; trust in Him, and pray for His 
help for your poor babies, and your affectionate husband, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO THE REV. C CHOLMONDELEY AND MRS. CHOLMONDELEY. 

Rahmat gunge, between Cawnpore and Lucknow, Oct. 19, 1824. 

My dear Charles and Mary, 

I write to both in one letter, because from the rambling nature 
of the life which I have been for some time leading, and still more 
from the number of business letters which I am obliged to attend 
to, I have far less time than I could wish to thank my friends at 
home for the kind and interesting packets which I receive from 
them. Of those packets, I can assure you none has given Emily 
and myself more pleasure than Charles's account of the birth of 
your little boy. 



^£ ^* 

* * * * * 
% * * * * 

* * * % * 



My journey has hitherto lain through three, if not four, very 
distinct tracts of country and people ; of the former I endeavoured 



t 



270 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



to give you some idea in my letters from Calcutta, and I do not 
think that my first impressions have been altered. Bengal, of 
which I have now seen by far the greatest part, is all pretty near- 
ly the same mass of luxuriant vegetation, fields of rice, indigo, and 
sugar, growing in and out of the water. 

*^ 

Bengal is not included within the bounds of Hindoostan, and 
the term of Bengalee is used to express anything which is roguish 
and cowardly; such as they are, however, I am far from disliking 

them; and I still am inclined-' to think 

some parts of the country the most beautiful, I am sure it is the 
most fertile, and to an European the most novel and exotic dis- 
trict which I have yet seen in India. But if you wish to obtain an 
idea of the people or country of Bengal, I know not where I can 
refer you better than to the large prints of Cook's third voyage ; 
the expression of countenance is remarkably similar to that which 
his draftsman has given to the Otaheitans. 

^» ^ ^ 

I ought not to omit, that the language of Bengal, which is quite 
different from Hindoostanee, is soft and liquid. The common 
people are all fond of singing, and some of the airs which I used 
to hear from the boatmen and children in the villages, reminded 
me of the Scotch melodies. I heard more than once " My boy, 
Tammy," and " Here's a health to those far away," during some 
of those twilight walks, after my boat was moored, which wanted 
only society to make them delightful, when amid the scent and 
glow of night-blowing flowers, the soft whisper of waving palms, 
and the warbling of the nightingale, watching the innumerable 
fire-flies, like airy glow-worms, floating, rising, and sinking, in the 
gloom of the bamboo woods, and gazing on the mighty river with 
the unclouded breadth of a tropical moon sleeping on its surface, 
I felt in my heart it is good to be here. 

As we approach the frontiers of Bahar, these beauties disappear, 
and are replaced by two or three days' sail of hideously ugly, bare, 
treeless, level country, till some blue hills are seen, and a very 
pretty and wooded tract succeeds with high hills little cultivated, 

but peopled by a singular and interesting race, the Welch of India. 

* * * * # 

* % # # * 

I have now taken measures for placing an ordained missionary 
of the Church of England among them, and hope to be the means, 
by God's blessing, of gradually extending a chain of schools 
through the whole district, some parts of which are, however, un- 
fortunately very unhealthy. I had myself not much opportunity, 
nor indeed much power, of conversing with any of them ; but I 
have since had the happiness of hearing that one old soubahdar 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



271 



said that he and his men had a desire to learn more of my religion, 
because I was not proud ; there certainly seem fewer obstacles 
to conversion here than in any part of this country which I have 
ever seen or heard of. 

On leaving the hills of the Jungleterry district, the flat country 
of Bahar and Allahabad, as far as Benares, shews a vast extent of 
fertile, cultivated, and populous soil. 

"9$ "ffc "Jfi «lf 

^ ^ 3f 

The whole scene, in short, is changed from Polynesia to the 
more western parts of Asia and the east of Europe, and I could 
fancy myself in Persia, Syria, or Turkey, to which the increas- 
ing number of Mussulmans, though still the minority, the mi- 
narets, and the less dark complexion of the people, much contri- 
bute. 

* * * * * * * 

******* 

But though this difference exists between Bengal and Bahar, 
Bahar itself, I shortly afterwards found, was in many respects dif- 
ferent from the Dooab, and still more from the dominion of the 
King of Oude, in which I now am. Almost immediately on leav- 
ing Allahabad, I was struck with the appearance of the men, as 
tall and muscular as the largest stature of Europeans, and with 

the fields of wheat, as almost the only cultivation — 

* * * * * * * 

I was tempted too to exclaim, 

Bellum, o terra hospita, portas : 
Bello armantur equi; bellum hsec armenta minantur. 
****** 

Since that time, my life has been that of a Tartar chief, rather 
than an English clergyman. I rise by three in the morning, and 
am on horseback by four, for the sake of getting the march 
over, and our tents comfortably pitched before the heat of the 
day. 

***** 

I have then a few hours to myself till dinner-time, at four, after 
which we generally stroll about, read prayers, and send every 
body to bed by eight o'clock, to be ready for the next day's 
march. 

I have as yet said nothing of my professional labours, (though 
in this respect I may say I have not been idle,) very few Sundays 
have elapsed, since I left Calcutta, in which I have not been able 
to collect a Christian congregation, and not many on which I have 
not been requested to administer the sacrament. 1 have already 
confirmed above 300 persons, besides those I confirmed before I 
set out; and 1 have found, almost everywhere, a great and growing 



272 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



anxiety on the part of the English families which are scattered 
through this vast extent of country, both to obtain a more regular 
and stated performance of Divine Service, than, in the present 
paucity of Chaplains and Missionaries, can be afforded to them. 
I have found, too, abundant reason to believe that the standard of 
morals and religion is rising much higher among them than it used 
to be, and that the Church of England, her ceremonies, and cler- 
gy, are daily gaining popularity. We are not here an old estab- 
lishment, acting chiefly on the defensive ; /we are a rising and po- 
pular sect, and among the candidates for confirmation, many of 
whom were grown up, and some advanced in life, there were 
many who had been brought up among Dissenters or the Church of 
Scotland, and who confessed that a few years back, they should 
never have thought it possible for them to seek the benediction 
of a Bishop. 

With regard to the conversion of the natives, a beginning has 
been made, and though it is a beginning only, I think it a very 
promising one. I do not only mean that wherever our schools are 
established they gladly send their children to them, though this 
alone would be a subject of great thankfulness to God, but of 
direct conversion, the number is as great as could well be expect- 
ed, considering that it is only within the last five years, that any 
ordained English Missionary has been in the presidency of Bengal, 
and that before that time nothing was even attempted by any 
members of our Church, except Mr. Martyn and Mr. Corrie. 
Of the candidates for confirmation, whom I mentioned above, 
eighty were converted heathens, and there were many whose dis- 
tant residences made it impossible for them to attend, and many 
more who were desirous to obtain the rite, whom their pastors 
did not think as yet sufficiently instructed. 

"fa ^ ^£ 

******* 

Great part of our Liturgy has been translated, and well trans- 
lated too, into Hindoostanee, and I thought it fortunate that the 
Confirmation Service as well as the Communion is found in the 
present compendium. The language is grave and sonorous, and 
as its turn of expression, like that of all other eastern tongues, is 
scriptural, it suits extremely well the majestic simplicity of our 
Prayer-Book. With all this employment, and all these hopes 
before me, you will easily believe I am not idle, and cannot be 
unhappy. Yet you will not, I am sure, suspect me of forgetting 
all I have left behind ; and there are many little circumstances of 
almost daily occurrence which give occasion to very sadly pleas- 
ing recollections. 

* * * * * * * 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



273 



On another occasion while we were sitting at the tent door under 
the shade of a noble peepul-tree, looking out with some anxiety 
over the wide sultry plain for the rear of our caravan, Lushington 
called out, as the long necks reared themselves amid some brush- 
wood, " the camels are coming, oho !" I believe he thought from 
my silence that I did not understand the allusion, but in fact 1 
could not answer. He had sent me to Moreton drawing-room and 
my dear Mary's piano-forte, and I was, I believe, a long time in 
getting back to the neighbourhood of the Ganges and Jumna. I 
have written a very long letter, but I do not think I shall have 
tired either of you. I meant to have enclosed one to my mother, 
but I have really no time now, and will write to her at a more 
advanced stage of my journey, and when I have something more 
to say. I knew you would shew her this letter ; giving my best 
love to her and to Heber. I can hardly say how often and how 
much I long to see you all, and how constantly you are all in my 
thoughts and prayers. 

Adieu, dear Charles and Mary, 

Ever your affectionate brother, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Almorah, Dec 1, 1824. 

Your letter of the 10th November has just reached me, having 
been sent from Delhi. I trust that, long ere this, you will have 
been convinced, by my Journal, that though there is a certain de- 
gree of irritability in the native mind in the northern and western 
provinces of Hindoostan, there is nothing like revolt, and that I 
am running no sort of danger. To set your mind, however, more 

at ease, I have had a conversation with , who, though 

not insensible to the fact that there are fewer troops than is advis- 
able in these provinces (if troops were to be had) does not feel 
any apprehension of mischief occurring at present. Had any of 
the great native powers been prepared to strike, they would have 
been on horseback before now, and as soon as possible after the 
rains. And though there may be, here and there, a refractory 
Zemindar on the frontier, no general or formidable rising can be 
now looked for, unless, which God forbid, some great disaster 
shall happen to our arms in the east. Rajpootana is said to be 
again quiet, and the transfer of Mhow to the Bombay army, by 



274 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



nearly doubling Sir David Ochterlony's disposable force, will en- 
able him probably to keep it so. 

I am not going near the district where Mr. Shore was wound- 
ed, and that too is said to be now again tranquil. Rohilcund is 
as quiet as it is ever likely to be, and of that district I have only 
a very few short marches to traverse, and in its quietest part ; nor, 
so far as 1 can learn, am I at all an unpopular person there, or 
likely to be molested, even if some partial mischief should occur. 
Believe me, I will be prudent, and incur no needless - danger. 
God bless and keep you for ever ! 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Boitpoor, Rohilcund, Dec. 10, 1824. 

| Dearest Emily, 

I send you two good packets of Journal, by which you will 
see I have had a very interesting journey through Kemaoon. My 
visit to Almorah has, I hope, not been useless, or one which I 
ought to regret, notwithstanding the delay it has Occasioned me. 
The reasons which led me to go there (which indeed, as you are 
aware, has always been a part of my plan,) you will see detailed 
in my Journal. I have learned some facts which, if my life is 
spared, may open a door for sending missionaries and copies of 
the Scriptures into Tartary, and even China. I have also ascer- 
tained, from actual experience, that if our next arrival in the 
north of India falls at the proper season, neither the fatigue nor 
the inconveniences, though certainly neither of them are trifling, 
need deter you from enjoying the pleasure which I have received, 
and which, had you been with me, would have been greatly in- 
creased. 

^ ^ 

For children and women-servants there is no mode of convey- 
ance but small hammocks, slung on a bamboo, and each carried 
by two men, whilst you would have to encounter the actual bodily 
fatigue of sitting on a pony up and down steep hills for three or 
four hours together. Still these difficulties are not much greater 
than are encountered by travellers in Norway, and the remoter 

parts of Scotland. 

******* 

I have at last received your letters, directed to Meerut, and 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



275 



that of Dr. Abel. They contain a very blended tissue of evil 
and good, for which I hardly know whether to lament or be 
grateful. 

* * * * * * * 

The If tters you enclose from home have also excited very pain- 
ful feelings. 

****** 

Nor am I able to contemplate without great concern and anxiety, 
my poor mother at her time of life, seeking out a new residence. 
God I hope will support and strengthen her natural cheerful 
spirits and activity of mind. 

Reginald Calcutta. 

t 

In order to shew you that I conceal nothing from you, I add, 
that a letter from Mr. Halhed, just received, apologizes for not 
being able td receive me at his house, in consequence of his being 
obliged to march against a small body of armed plunderers near 
the forest. Such little tumults are, as I have told you, not unfre- 
quent in Rohilcund ; but this is several days' march out of my way, 
and even were it not, my escort is too strong to encourage them to 
meddle with me. I mention it lest you should be alarmed by 
hearing any thing of it from other quarters, and because such mat- 
ters are, at Calcutta, often exaggerated. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Mowah, (Jyepoor Territory,) Jan, 22, 1825. 

My dearest Emily, 

I take the opportunity of the return of Mr. Mac Sweyn's su- 
warrs to Agra, to send you my Journal, as continued down to this 
morning. My next letter must be from Jyepoor, where, if it 
please God, I hope to arrive on the 28th. If you sail to Bombay, 
that will be the last letter which you are likely to receive from 
me during your stay in Bengal. 

"fa *fa ^£ 

I was very sorry to hear of poor . . . 's death, and can- 
not help thinking that the confined air of her quarters in the fort, 
added to her own regret for the foolish step she had taken in 
leaving you, hastened it. I now much regret that I did not, as I 
once thought of doing, call on her, in one of my morning rides, 
to bid her good-bye before I left Calcutta ; she would have taken 

Vol. II.— 35 



276 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



it kindly, but I was in a hurry, and not over well-pleased with 
her at the time. 

I have just received a letter from Colonel Raper, the Resident 
at the Rannee's court, who sent me an additional escort of caval- 
ry for my passage through the Jyepoor territory. I had, previous- 
ly, no apprehensions, but you will be glad to hear that I am well 
guarded. The Rannee is now again on perfect good terms with 
the English. Sir David Ochterlony is residing in the palace with 
her, and she has sent a vakeel and a guard of twenty-five horse- 
men, to guide and guard me through her dominions. She has, in 
fact, carried most of her points with government, which, in these 
troublesome times, had, probably, no desire to make new ene- 
mies. All is, at present, quiet in these parts ; and with the ex- 
ception of the strange appearance of 2500 horse, no man knows 
whence, at Calpee, who plundered the city, and even ventured 
to exchange some shots with the garrison in the fort, all has been 
so for several months past. Any more serious mischief to which 
that may have been intended as a prelude, will probably be pre- 
vented by the news of our successes at Rangoon. 

I am quite well, and if you were with me, should be quite hap- 
py. As it is, T enjoy very much this sort of wild travelling, and 
the spectacle of a people in a very simple state of society. 

Reginald CalcuttAc. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Jyepoor, January 28, "1825. 
***** 

I have written to you so lately, that I should hardly have sent 
you another packet; if it were not under the idea that unless I 
make haste, I shall hardly catch you before your embarkation for 
Bombay, should that event, as I continue to hope it may, take 
place. I hope, please God, to send an account of my further pro- 
gress, to meet you, should you arrive there before me ; but should 
such a letter not immediately make its appearance, do not anti- 
cipate any evil, since in the line of road which I am most likely 
to follow in my march from Nusseerabad, I am not certain that 

any dak exists, except a very circuitous one. 

* * * * * * 

I little thought, when fancying the possible trials which we 
might have to go through in India, that the sea was ever to roll 
between you, our babies, and me! But go wherever you will y 
you are in the hands of a good God. I know you will not tempt 



CORRESPONDENCE. 277 

his goodness unnecessarily by going in an improper vessel, (an 

Arab I positively prohibit,) or at an improper season ; and the air 

of Calcutta, to which I have already trusted you so long, is, in my 

opinion, an element full as dangerous as that to which I am now 

trusting you. And I hope that the Great Protector, under whose 

care we are now running our separate course, will not only, if he 

sees it good for us, bring us safely and happily together in a few 

months more, but that, through His mercy, this may be our last 

separation, of any length, on this side the grave ! 

An answer to this letter may have a chance of reaching me 

either at Mhow or Ahmedabad. I am not able to determine, till 

I reach Nusseerabad, which of these two routes it will be best for 

me to pursue. The first had been always contemplated by me, 

but since the Bengal army has been withdrawn, and replaced by 

fresh troops from Poonah, I do not know that I am likely to have 

much to do there ; and by taking the more western road by Oodey- 

poor, Aboo, Palampoor, &c, I get, as I am told, a better road, 

visit a new and large station of the Bombay army at Deesa, and 

see some fine ruins at Aboo. Above all,' Mhow will lie very well 

in the road which I propose to take with you in a future visitation, 

when the chance is, there will be more to do there than there is 

now. However, I hope to receive letters at Nusseerabad which 

will enable me to determine what is best: it will be usefulness, 

not curiosity, which will guide me. A letter to each of these 

places, Mhow and Ahmedabad, will be almost sure to reach me, 

and would be a great comfort to me. 

******* 

Do you know, dearest, that I sometimes think we should be 
more useful, and happier, if Cawnpoor or Benares, not Calcutta, 
were our home. My visitations would be made with far more 
convenience, the expense of house-rent would be less to the Com- 
pany, and our own expenses of living would be reduced very 
considerably. The air, even of Cawnpoor, is, I apprehend, better 
than that of Bengal, and that of Benares decidedly so. The greater 
part of my business with government may be done as well by let- 
ters as personal interviews ; and, if the Archdeacon of Calcutta 
were resident there, it seems more natural that the Bishop of India 
should remain in the centre of his diocese. The only objection 
is the great number of Christians in Calcutta, and the consequent 
probability that my preaching is more useful there than it would 
be any where else. We may talk these points over when we meet 

God bless you and your dear children ! 

Reginald Calcutta. 



278 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Bheelwarra, Meywar, February 18, 1825. 

Dearest Love, 

I have just, thank God, received your letter of February 1st, 
and am truly rejoiced at the favourable account which it gives of 
both our treasures. 

. ? . * * * * # 

You say nothing of yourself, and I cannot help being uneasy lest 
your anxiety should do you harm. God forgive me! I often 
regret that 1 left you. Yet I hope and trust that He will take 
care of you, and I know that it is He only on whose care all must 
depend, whether I am present or absent. It is this only, and the 
feeling that I have the opportunity of doing Him service where I 
am going, which keeps me yet in suspense about turning back to 
you. He knows how gladly (if I thought myself justified in doing 
it, now that all preparations have been made in Bombay to re- 
ceive me) I should set my face eastward. I thought yesterday 
morning, when the drum beat for our march, of poor Tom Tough 
in Dibdin's ballad : — 

" The worst time of all was when the little ones were sickly, 

And if they'd live or die the doctor did not know, 

The word was given to weigh so sudden and so quickly, 

I thought my heart would break as I sung out, Yo heave oh !" 

Yet if good news continues, I shall, like poor Tom Tough, per- 
severe. 

^ ^ ^£ ^ *fc 

Sometimes I would fain flatter myself that the children may 
still get so well before the end of this month, as to justify your 
sailing for Bombay. My own opinion is, I confess, that change 
of air, and sea air above all, is what they want, and that you will 
risk less by being removed from your present excellent advice, 
than by remaining in that cruel climate during the rainy season. 

Had your own health been such as to enable or justify you in 
coming with me in the first instance, and our children had accom- 
panied you, I am often tempted to think they would both have 
remained well. But God only knows what is best for us ; and 
while we act for the best and trust in Him, there can be no ground 
for self-reproach. We both then did, undoubtedly, what we 
thought our duty, and it is possible that my present notions of the 
climate of Bengal are too unfavourable. Surely, however, we 
have no reason to think well of it ! 

* •* ■» Hf * 



CORRESPONDENCE. 279 

Adieu, dearest, God bless and protect you ! — Direct to me at 
Mhow, if I do not go there your letters will be forwarded. 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WILLIAMS WYNN. 

Pertaubghur, Malwah, March 1, 1825. 

My dear Wynn, 



* * * * * * * 

* * * * * * * 
******* 

■ * * * * * * 



In Hindoostan, which name is confined by the natives to Upper 
India only, and more particularly to that part of it which was 
within the usual limits of the Mogul Empire, and is now subject 
to the Company, there are few natural curiosities, and the dis- 
tinguished works of architecture are chiefly confined to the great 
cities and their vicinity. They are, however, far superior to all 
which I had expected, and very different from the idea generally 
formed of them in Europe. I had heard much of the airy and 
gaudy style of Oriental architecture, a notion, I apprehend, taken 
from that of China only, since solidity, solemnity, and a richness 
of ornament, so well managed as not to interfere with solemnity, 
are the characteristics of all the ancient buildings which I have 
met with in this country. I recollect no corresponding parts of 
Windsor at all equal to the entrance of the castle of Delhi and 
its marble hall of audience, and even Delhi falls very short of 
Agra in situation, in majesty of outline, in size, and the costliness 

and beauty of its apartments. 

* * * * * 

They are not the Mussulmans only who have surprised me. 
At Benares, indeed, the Hindoo works are all small, but in the 
wild countries which I am now traversing, and where the Hindoos 
have been pretty much left to themselves, there are two palaces, 
Umeer and Jyepoor, surpassing all which I have seen of the 
Kremlin, or heard of the Alhambra ; a third, Joudpoor, which I 
have not seen, is said to be equal to either, and the Jain Temples 
of Aboo, on the verge of the Western desert, are said to rank 
above them all. 

Of the people, so far as their natural character is concerned, I 
have been led to form, on the whole, a very favourable opinion. 
They have., unhappily, many of the vices arising from slavery, 



280 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



from an unsettled state of society, and immoral and erroneous 
systems of religion. But they are men of high and gallant cou- 
rage, courteous, intelligent, and most eager after knowledge and 
improvement, with a remarkable aptitude for the abstract sciences, 
geometry, astronomy, &c. and for the imitative arts, painting and 
sculpture. They are sober, industrious, dutiful to their parents, 
and affectionate to their children, of tempers almost uniformly 
gentle and patient, and more easily affected by kindness and at- 
tenton to their wants and feelings than almost any men whom I 
have met with. Their faults seem to arise from the hateful su- « 
perstitions to which they are subject, and the unfavourable state 
of society in which they are placed. But if it should please God 
to make any considerable portion of them Christians, they would, 
I can well believe, put the best of European Christians to shame. 
They are the sepoys and irregular horse of whom I chiefly speak, 
for of these it is I have happened to see most, having taken all 
opportunities of conversing with my escort, and having, for several 
weeks together, had scarcely any body else to converse with. I 
find, however, that my opinion of both these classes of men is that 
of all the officers in the Company's service to whom I have named 
the subject ; and, so far as my experience reaches, which certainly 
is not great, I have no reason to suppose that the classes whom I 
have mentioned, are not a fair average specimen of the other in- 
habitants of the country. 

The English in the upper provinces are, of course, thinly scat- 
tered, in proportion either to the multitude of the heathen, or the 
extent of territory. They are, however, more numerous than I 
expected, though there are very few, indeed, who are not in the 
civil or military employ of government. The indigo planters are 
chiefly confined to Bengal, and I have no wish that their number 
should increase in India. They are always quarrelling with, and 
oppressing the natives, and have done much in those districts 
where they abound, to sink the English character in native eyes. 
Indeed the general conduct of the lower order of Europeans in 
India is such, as to shew the absurdity of the system of free colo- 
nization which W- is mad about. 

* * * * #• # * 

To return, however, to the English society in the upper pro- 
vinces. It is of course composed of nearly the same elements 
with that of Calcutta, the officers who take their turns of duty 
here, being most of them at different times called by business or 
promotion to the Presidency. Each of the civil stations forms a 
little society within itself, composed of the Judge, the Collector, 
the Registrar, the Station Surgeon, and Postmaster. The military 
stations are strictly camps, composed of huts for the men, with 
thatched cottages for the officers, ranged in regular lines, with a 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



281 



hospital, and sometimes, though too seldom, a Church and chap- 
lain. 

Neither the civil nor military officers have much intercourse 
with the natives, though between officers and magistrates of a 
certain rank, and the natives of distinction, there is generally an 
occasional interchange of visits and civilities. Society, both civil 
and military, is less formal up the country than at Calcutta, and 
this plainness and cordiality of manners increases as we approach 
the northern and western frontier, where every thing still remains, 
as they themselves call it, " Camp Fashion." 

if if if 

I dined not long since with a Brigadier-General, where the feast 
consisted of boiled beef, roast mutton, boiled mutton, hashed mut- 
ton, mutton chops, and mutton broth. A man, however, would be 
very fastidious who would quarrel with such fare as this, accom- 
panied as it was with perfect good manners, and extremely amusing 
and interesting conversation. The civilians live in more style, 
and appear in public with a train of attendants on horseback and 
foot. 

t?f 

Yet even with this there is plainness and freedom from restraint, 
which they appear to lose when they come in sight of Govern- 
ment House, and which makes me apprehend that a life in Hin- 
doostan proper, is far happier, as well as more wholesome for body 
and mind, than on the banks of the Hooghly. Of course, among 
these different functionaries there is an abundant difference of 
character and talent ; but the impression made on my mind is fa- 
vourable, on the whole, to their diligence and good intentions ; 
nor can there be more useful or amiable characters than some of 
the elder servants of the Company, who, eschewing Calcutta al- 
together, have devoted themselves for many years to the advan- 
tage of the land in which their lot is thrown, and are looked up 
to, throughout considerable districts, with a degree of respectful at- 
tachment which it is not easy to believe counterfeited. Mr. Brooke, 
of Benares, is precisely a character of this discription. Mr. Haw- 
kins, of Bareilly, and Mr. Traill, the Judge of Almorah, are oth- 
ers, and Sir David Ochterlony would have been an example still- 
more conspicuous, were it not for the injurious confidence which 
he is said to place in his servants. 

But though I fully believe the influence of Britain to have been 
honestly employed for the benefit of India, and to have really 
produced great good to the country and its inhabitants, I have not 
been led to believe that our government is generally popular, or 
advancing towards popularity. It is, perhaps, impossible that we 
should be so in any great degree ; yet I really think there are some 
causes of discontent, which itis in our own power, and which it is our 



282 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



duty, to remove or diminish. One of these is the distance and 
haughtiness with which a very large proportion of the civil and 
military servants of the Company treat the upper and middling 
class of natives. Against their mixing much with us in society, 
there are certainly many hindrances, though even their objection 
to eating with us might, so far as the Mussulmans are concerned, 
I think, be conquered by any popular man in the upper provinces, 
who made the attempt in a right way. But there are some of 
our amusements, such as private theatrical entertainments, and 
the sports of the field, in which they would be delighted to share, 
and invitations to which would be regarded by them as extreme- 
ly flattering, if they were not, perhaps with some reason, voted 
bores, and treated accordingly. The French, under Perron and 
Des Boignes, who in more serious matters left a very bad name 
behind them, had, in this particular, a great advantage over us, 
and the easy and friendly intercourse in which they lived wjth 
natives of rank, is still often regretted in Agra and the Dooab. 
This is not all, however. The foolish pride of the English abso- 
lutely leads them to set at nought the injunctions of their own 
government. The Tusseeldars, for instance, or principal active 
officers of revenue, ought, by an order of council, to have chairs 
always offered them in the presence of their European superiors, 
and the same, by the standing orders of the army, should be done 
to the Soubahdars. Yet there are hardly six collectors in India 
who observe the former etiquette ; and the latter, which was fif- 
teen years ago never omitted in the army, is now completely in 
disuse. At the same time, the regulations of which I speak are 
known to every Tusseeldar and Soubahdar in India, and they feel 
themselves aggrieved every time these civilities are neglected ; 
men of old families are kept out of their former situation by this 
and other similar slights, and all the natives endeavour to indemni- 
fy themselves for these omissions on our part, by many little pieces 
of rudeness, of which 1 have heard Europeans complain, as daily 
increasing among them. 

In almost every part of my journey, I have found the minds of 
the Europeans more favourably disposed to religion than I ex- 
pected, and anxious, in a degree proportioned to their paucity, to 
avail themselves of every opportunity which offered, for attending 
the rites of the Church. The native Christians of the Roman 
Catholic persuasion amount, I am told, to some thousands, and do. 
not bear a good character. Those who are members of the Church 
of England in this Presidency, have chiefly been converted by 
Archdeacon Corrie, and by his disciples, Bowley, Abdul Musseeh. 
and Anund Musseeh, and by Mr. Fisher of Meerut Their num- 
ber does not exceed, at most, five hundred adults, who are chiefly 



CORRESPONDENCE* 



§83 



at the stations of Benares, Chunar, Buxar, Meerut, and Agra, a 
large proportion being the wives of European soldiers. Even the 
number is greater than might have been expected, when we con- 
sider how few years have passed since Mr. Corrie first came into 
the country. He was cotemporary with Martyn, and before their 
time nothing was attempted here by the Church of England. I 
have made many inquiries, but cannot find that^any jealousy on 
this head exists at present among the natives. Corrie, indeed, 
himself, from his pleasing manners, his candid method of convers- 
ing with them on religious topics, his perfect knowledge of Hin- 
doostanee, and his acquaintance with the topics most discussed 
among their own learned men, is a great favourite among the pun- 
dits of Benares, and the syuds and other learned Mussulmans at 
Agra, who seem to like conversing with him even where they 
differ most in their opinion. This good man, with his wife and 
children, went with me as far as Lucknow, and he has since gone 
to pass the hot weather in the Dhoon, his health being, I grieve 
to say, in a very precarious condition. At the same time I lost 
the society of a very agreeable fellow-traveller, the son of Mr. 

Lushington of the Treasury My journey 

from thence to Delhi was, generally speaking, made alone ; but I 
had then a medical man assigned to me by General Reynell. The 
want of such a person I had felt severely, both in the case of poor 
Stowe, and afterwards during my own illness, and when I had 

four men in my camp ill of jungle fever. 

***** 

Mr. Adam, in spite of all which has been said and written, is, 
and uniformly has been, one of the most popular men in India. 
He is, perhaps, the only public man in whom, in any great degree, 
both European and natives have confidence; and his absence from 
Calcutta during the early part of the war, and his present deter- 
mination, which has just reached these provinces, to return to 
Europe, have been regarded by all, without exception, whom I 
have heard speak on the subject, as the heaviest calamities which 
could have befallen British India. I was Mr. Adam's guest for a 
few days at Almorah, and greatly pleased both with his manners 
and conversation ; but he was then weak both in health and spirits, 
and my opinion of him has been formed rather from what I heard, 

than what I have myself known of him. 

***** 

The character which Malcolm has left behind him in Western 
and Central India, is really extraordinary. As political agent, he 
had many difficulties to contend with, of which the jealousy en- 
tertained of him, as a Madras officer, by the Bengal army, is not 
the least. But during his stay, he seems to have conciliated all 
classes of Europeans in a manner which hardly any other man 

Vol. IT. — 36 



£84 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



could have done, while the native chiefs, whom I have seen, asked 

after him with an anxiety and regard which I could not think 

counterfeited, inasmuch as they did not pretend any thing equal 

to it when speaking of other great men. 

* * # * * 

I have, I fear, wearied you, and have been infinitely longer than 
I myself anticipated ; but I know how deep an interest you take 
in all which relates to this country, and, except these long des- 
patches, and my daily prayers for you and yours, I have now no 
opportunity of shewing how sincerely I am, 

Dear Wynn, 

Your obliged and affectionate friend, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Doodeah, Guzerat, March 13th, 1825. 

Your letter of the 9th February has just been forwarded to me 
from Baroda. I need not say how great a comfort it was to me 
to hear from you again in the midst of these wilds, and when for 
a week to come, I hardly flattered myself with that expectation. 
It is of four days later date than your last, and thank God the ac- 
counts continue favourable. 

* * * * # 

I am and have been in perfect health, and have performed my 
journey through all which was considered the adventurous part 
of the road, very peaceably and quietly. Nothing can be wilder 
or more savage than these jungles, but they contain many spots 
of great romantic beauty, though the mountains are certainly mere 
playthings after Himalaya. The various tribes of the countries 
through which I have passed interested me extremely; their lan- 
guage, the circumstances of their habitation, dress, and armour, 
their pastoral and agricultural way of life ; their women grinding 
at the mill, their cakes baked on the coals, their corn trodden out 
by oxen, their maidens passing to the well, their travellers lodging 
in the streets, their tents, their camels, their shields, spears, and 
coats of mail} their Mussulmans with a religion closely copied 
from that of Moses, their Hindoo tribes worshipping the same 
abominations with the same rites as the ancient Canaanites ; their 
false prophets swarming in every city, and foretelling good or evil 
as it suits the political views of their employers ; their judges sitting 
in the gate, and their wild Bheels and Khoolies dwelling like the 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



285 



ancient Amorites in holes and clefts of the rocks, and coming down 
with sword and how to watch the motions, or attack the baggage 
of the traveller, transported me back three thousand years, and I 
felt myself a contemporary of Joshua or Samuel! 

I have a large packet of journal for you, which I shall keep 
till I hear from you again, lest you should, after all, have sailed 
from Calcutta. 

God bless you, dearest ! 

Reginald Calcutta. 



Barreah, (Guzerat) March, 1824. 

My dear Wilmot, 

* * * * * 

***** 

I have now, since the middle of last June, pretty nearly seen 
the eastern, northern, and western extremities of British India, 
having been to Dacca and Almorah, and having now arrived within 
a few days' march of Ahmedabad, visiting by the way several of 
the most important, independant, or tributary principalities. 

Of the way of performing this long journey, I was myself very 
imperfectly informed before I began it, and even then it was long 
before I could believe how vast and cumbersome an apparatus of 
attendance and supplies of every kind was necessary to travel in 
any degree of comfort or security. On the river, indeed, so long 
as that lasted, one's progress is easy and pleasant, (bating a little 
heat and a few storms,) carried on by a strong south-eastern breeze, 
in a very roomy and comfortable boat, against the stream of a ma- 
jestic body of water; but it is after leaving the Ganges for the land- 
journey that, if not " the tug, 1 ' yet no small part of the apparatus, 
proventus et commeatus, of "war" commences. 

It has been my wish, on many accounts, to travel without un- 
necessary display; my tents, equipments, and number of servants, 
are all on the smallest scale which Comfort or propriety would 
admit of; they all fall short of what are usually taken by the col- 
lectors of districts, and in comparison with what the Commander 
in Chief had the year before last, I have found people disposed to 
cry out at them as quite insufficient. Nor have I asked for a single 
soldier or trooper beyond what the commanding officers of dis- 
tricts have themselves offered as necessary and suitable ; yet for 
myself and Dr. Smith, the united numbers amount\to three ele- 
phants, above twenty camels, five horses, besides poneys for our 
principal servants, twenty-six servants, twenty-six bearers of bur* 



/ 



2$6 CORRESPONDENCE. 

thens, fifteen clashees to pitch and remove tents, elephant and 
camel drivers, I believe, thirteen, and since we have left the Com- 
pany's territories and entered Rajpootana, a guard of eighteen 
irregular horse and forty-five sepoys on foot. Nor is this all ; for 
there is a number of petty tradesmen and other poor people 
whose road is the same as ours, and who have asked permission 
to encamp near us, and travel under our protection ; so that yes- 
terday, when I found it expedient, on account of the scarcity 
which prevails in these provinces, to order an allowance of flour, 
by way of Sunday dinner, to every person in the camp, the num- 
ber of heads returned was 165. With all these formidable num- 
bers, you must not, however, suppose that any exorbitant. luxury 
reigns in my tent ; our fare is, in fact, as homely as any two far- 
mers in England sit down to ; and if it be sometimes exuberant, 
the fault must be laid on a country where we must take a whole 
sheep or kid, if we would have animal food at all, and where 
neither sheep nor kid will, when killed, remain eatable more than 
a day or two. The truth is, that where people carry every thing 
with them, bed, tent, furniture, wine, beer, and crockery, for six 
months together, no small quantity of beasts of burden may well 
be supposed neccessary ; and in countries such as those which I 
have now been traversing, where every man is armed, where 
every third or fourth man, a few years since, was a thief by pro- 
fession, and where, in spite of English influence and supremacy, 
the forests, mountains, and multitudes of petty sovereignties, af- 
ford all possible scope for the practical application of Words- 
worth's " good old rule," you may believe me that it is neither 
pomp nor cowardice which has thus fenced your friend in with 
spears, shields, and bayonets. After all, though this way of life 
•has much that is monotonous and wearisome, though it grievously 
dissipates time and thought, and though it is almost incompatible 
with the pursuits in which I have been accustomed to find most 
pleasure, it is by no means the worst part of an Indian existance. 
It is a great point in this climate to be actually compelled to rise, 
day after day, before the dawn, and to ride from twelve to eigh- 
teen miles before breakfast. It is a still greater to have been 
saved a residence in Calcutta during the sultry months, and to 
have actually seen and felt frost, ice, and snow, on the summits 
of Kemaoon, and under the shadow of the Himalaya. And 
though the greater part of the Company's own provinces, except 
Kemaoon, are by no means abundant in object of natural beauty 
or curiosity, the prospect offering little else than an uniform plain 
of slovenly cultivation, yet in the character and manners of the 
people there is much which may be studied with interest and 
amusement, and in the yet remaining specimen of Oriental pomp 
at Lucknow, in the decayed, but most striking and romantic, 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



287 



magnificence of Delhi, and in the Taje-Mahal of Agra, (doubt- 
less one of the most beautiful buildings in the world) there is al- 
most enough, even of themselves, to make it worth a man's 
while to cross the Atlantic and Indian oceans. 

Since then I have been in countries of a wilder character, com- 
paratively seldom trodden by Europeans, exempt during the 
greater part of their history from the Mussulman yoke, and re- 
taining, accordingly, a great deal of the simplicity of early Hindoo 
manners, without much of that solemn and pompous uniformity 
which the conquests of the house of Timur seem to have impress- 
ed on all classes of their subjects. Yet here there is much which 
is interesting and curious. The people, who are admirably de- 
scribed (though I think in too favourable colours) by Malcolm in 
his Central India, are certainly a lively, animated and warlike 
race of men, though, chiefly from their wretched government, 
and partly from their still more wretched religion, there is hardly 
any vice either of slaves or robbers to which they do not seem 
addicted. Yet^uch a state of society is, at least, curious, and 
resembles more the picture of Abyssinia, as given by Bruce, than 
that of any other country which I have seen or read of; while 
here too, there are many wild and woody scenes,- which, though 
they want the glorious glaciers and peaks of the Himalaya, do 
not fall short in natural beauty of some of the loveliest glens 
which we went through, ten years ago, in North Wales ; and some 
very remarkable ruins, which, though greatly inferior as works of 
art to the Mussulman remains in Hindoostan proper, are yet more 
curious than them, as being more different from any thing which 
an European is accustomed to see or read of. 

One fact, indeed, during this journey has been impressed on my 
mind very forcibly, that the character and situation of the natives 
of these great countries are exceedingly little known, and in many 
instances grossly misrepresented, not only by the English public 
in general, but by a great proportion of those also who, though 
they have been in India, have taken their views of its population, 
manners, and productions from Calcutta, or at most from 
Bengal. I had always heard, and fully believed till I came to In- 
dia, that it was a grievous crime, in the opinion of the brahmins, 
to eat the flesh or shed the blood of any living creature whatever. 
I have now myself seen brahmins of the highest caste cut off the 
heads of goats as a sacrifice to Doorga ; and I know from the tes- 
timony of brahmins, as well as from other sources, that not only 
hecatombs of animals are often offered in this manner, as a most 
meritorious act, (a Raja, about twenty-five years back, offered 
sixty thousand in one fortnight,) but that .any person, brahmins 
not excepted, eats readily of the flesh of whatever has been of- 
fered up to one of their divinities, while among almost all the 



288 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



other castes, mutton, pork, venison, fish, any thing but beef and 
fowls, are consumed as readily as in Europe. Again, I had heard 
all my life of the gentle and timid Hindoos, patient under inju- 
ries, servile to their superiors, &c. Now, this is, doubtless, to a 
certain extent, true of the Bengalees, (who, by the way, are 
never reckoned among the nations of Hindoostan, by those who 
speak the language of that country,) and there are a great many 
people in Calcutta who maintain that all the natives of India are 
alike. But even in Bengal, gentle as the exterior manners of the 
people are, there are large districts close to Calcutta, where the 
w r ork of carding, burning, ravishing, murder, and robbery, goes 
on as systematically, and in nearly the same manner, as in the 
worst part of Ireland, and on entering Hindoostan, properly so 
called, which, in the estimation of the natives, reaches from . the 
Rajmahal hills to Agra, and from the mountains of Kemaoon to 
Bundelcund, I was struck and surprised to find a people equal in 
stature and strength to the average of European nations, despising 
rice and rice-eaters, feeding on wheat and barley*#ead, exhibiting 
in their appearance, conversation, and habits of life, a grave, 
proud, and decidedly a martial character, accustomed universally 
to the use of arms and athletic exercises from their cradles, and 
preferring, very greatly, military service to any other means of 
livelihood. This part of their character, but in a ruder and wild- 
er form, and debased by much alloy of treachery and violence, is 
conspicuous in the smaller and less good-looking inhabitants of 
Rajpootana and Malwah ; while the mountains and woods, wher- 
ever they occur, shew specimens of a race entirely different from 
all these, and in a state of society scarcely elevated above the sa- 
vages of New Holland or New Zealand ; and the inhabitants, I 
am assured, of the Deckan, and of the Presidencies of Madras and 
Bombay, are as different from those which I have seen, and from 
each other, as the French and Portuguese from the Greeks, Ger- 
mans, or Poles ; so idle is it to ascribe uniformity of character 
to the inhabitants of a country so extensive, and subdivided by 
so many almost impassable tracts of mountain and jungle ; and so 
little do the majority of those whom I have seen, deserve the 
gentle and imbecile character often assigned to them. Another 
instance of this want of information, which at the time of my 
arrival excited much talk in Bengal, was the assertion made in 
Parliament, I forget by whom, that " there was little or no sugar 
cultivated in India, and that the sugar mostly used there came from 
Sumatra and Java." Now this even the cockneys of Calcutta 
must have known to be wrong, and I can answer for myself, that 
in the whole range of Calcutta, from Decca to Delhi, and thence 
through the greater part of Rajpootana and Malwah, the raising 
of sugar is as usual a part of husbandry, as turnips and potatoes in 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



289 



England ; and that they prepare it in every form, except the loaf, 
which is usually met with in Europe, This, however, is not the 
most material point in which the state of arts and society in India 
has been underrated. I met not long since with a speech by a 
leading member of the Scotch General Assembly, declaring his 
"conviction that the truths of Christianity could not be received 
by men in so rude a state as the East Indians ; and that it was 
necessary to give them first a relish for the habits and comforts of 
civilized life before they could embrace the truths of the Gospel." 
The same slang (for it is nothing more) I have seen repeated in 
divers pamphlets, and even heard it in conversations at Calcutta. 
Yet, though it is certainly true that the lower classes of Indians are 
miserably poor, and that there are many extensive districts where, 
both among low and high, the laws are very little obeyed, and 
there is a great deal of robbery, oppression, and even ferocity, I 
know no part of the population, except the mountain tribes al- 
ready mentioned, who can, with any propriety of language, be 
called uncivilized. 

Of the unpropitious circumstances which I have mentioned, 
the former arises from a population continually pressing on the 
utmost limits of subsistence, and which is thus kept up, not by any 
dislike or indifference to a better diet, or more ample clothing, or 
more numerous ornaments than now usually fall to the peasant's 
share, (for, on the contrary, if he has the means he is fonder of 
external show and a respectable appearance, than those of his 
rank in many nations of Europe,) but by the foolish superstition, 
whi(?li Christianity only is likely to remove, which makes a parent 
regard it as unpropitious to allow his son to remain unmarried, 
and which couples together children of twelve or fourteen years 
of age. The second has its origin in the long-continued misfor- 
tunes and intestine wars of India, which are as yet too recent (even 
when their causes have ceased to exist) for the agitation which 
they occasioned to have entirely sunk into a calm. But to say 
that the Hindoos or Mussulmans are deficient in any essential fea- 
ture of a civilized people, is an assertion which I can scarcely 
suppose to be made by any who have lived with them. Their 
manners are, at least, as pleasing and courteous as those in the 
corresponding stations of life among ourselves ; their houses are 
larger, and, according to their wants and climate, to the full as 
convenient as ours ; their, architecture is at least as elegant, and 
though the worthy Scotch divines may doubtless wish their labour- 
ers to be clad in "hodden grey," and their gentry and merchants 

to wear powder and mottled stockings, like worthy Mr. 

and the other elders of his kirk-session, I really do not think that 
they would gain either in cleanliness, elegance, or comfort, by ex- 
changing a white cotton robe for the completest suits of dittos. 



290 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Nor is it true that in the mechanic arts they are inferior to the 
general run of European nations. Where they fall short of us 
(which is chiefly in agricultural implements and the mechanics of 
common life,) they are not, so far as I have understood of Italy 
and the south of France, surpassed in any great degree by the 
people of those countries. Their goldsmiths and weavers produce 
as beautiful fabrics as our own, and it is so far from true that they 
are obstinately wedded to their old patterns, that they shew an 
anxiety to imitate our models, and do imitate them very success- 
fully. The ships built by native artists at Bombay are notoriously 
as good as any which sail from London or Liverpool. The car- 
riages and gigs which they supply at Calcutta are as handsome, 
though not as durable, as those of Long Acre. In the little town 
of Monghyr, 300 miles from Calcutta, I had pistols, double-bar- 
relled guns, and different pieces of cabinet-work brought down 
to my boat for sale, which in outward form (for 1 know no further) 

nobody but perhaps Mr. could detect to be of Hindoo 

origin; and at Delhi, in the shop of a wealthy native jeweller, I 
found broaches, ear-rings, snuff-boxes, &c. of the latest models (so 
far as I am a judge,) and ornamented with French devices and 
mottos. 

The fact is, that there is a degree of intercourse maintained be- 
tween this country and Europe, and a degree of information, ex- 
isting among the people as to what passes there, which, consider- 
ing how many of them neither speak nor read English, implies 
other channels of communication besides those which we supply, 
and respecting which I have been able as yet to obtain very little 
information. Among the presents sent last year to the Supreme 
Government, by the little state of Ladak, in Chinese Tartary, 
some large sheets of gilt leather, stamped with the Russian eagle, 
were the most conspicuous. A traveller, who calls himself a 
Transylvanian, but who is shrewdly suspected of being a Russian 
spy, was, when I was in Kemaoon, arrested by the commandant 
of our fortresses among the Himalaya mountains, and after all our 
pains to exclude foreigners from the service of the native princes, 
two chevaliers of the legion of honour were found, about twelve 
months ago, and are still employed in casting cannon and drilling 
soldiers for the Seik Rajah, Runjeet Singh. This you will say 
is no more than we should be prepared to expect, but you proba- 
bly would not suppose (what I believe- is little, if at all, known 
in Russia itself,) that there is an ancient and still frequented place 
of Hindoo pilgrimage, not many miles from Moscow, or that the 
secretary of the Calcutta Bible Society received, ten months ago, 
an application (by whom translated I do not know, but in very 
tolerable English.) from some priests on the shore of the Caspian 
sea, requesting a grant of Arminian Bibles. After this you will 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



291 



be the less surprised to learn that the leading events of the late wars 
in Europe (particularly Buonaparte's victories) were often known, 
or at least rumoured, among the native merchants in Calcutta 
before government received any accounts from England, or that 
the suicide of an English minister (with the mistake, indeed, of 
its being Lord Liverpool instead of the Marquis of Londonderry,) 
had become a topic of conversation in the"burrah bazar," (the 
native exchange,) for a fortnight before the arrival of any intelli- 
gence by the usual channels. 

With subjects thus inquisitive, and with opportunities of infor- 
mation, it is apparent how little sense there is in the doctrine that 
we must keep the natives of Hindoostan in ignorance, if we would 
continue to govern them. The fact is, that they know enough 
already to do us a great deal of mischief if they should find it their 
interest to make the trial. They are in a fair way, by degrees, to 
acquire still more knowledge for themselves ; and the question is, 
whether it is not the part of wisdom, as well as duty, to superin- 
tend and promote their education while it is yet in our power, 
and to supply them with such knowledge as will be at once most 
harmless to ourselves and most useful to them. 

In this work, the most important part is to give them a better 
religion. Knowing how strongly I feel on this subject, you will 
not be surprised at my placing it foremost. But even if Chris- 
tianity were out of the question, and if when I had wheeled away 
the rubbish of the old pagodas, I had nothing better than simple 
Deism to erect in their stead, I should still feel some of the anxi- 
ety which now urges me. It is necessary to see idolatry, to be 
fully sensible of its mischievous effects on the human mind. But 
of all idolatries which I have ever read or heard of, the religion of 
the Hindoos, in which I had taken some pains to inform myself, 
really appears to me the worst, both in the degrading notions 
which it gives of the Deity ; in the endless round of its burden- 
some ceremonies, which occupy the time and distract the thoughts, 
without either instructing or interesting its votaries ; in the filthy 
acts of uncleanness and cruelty, not only permitted, but enjoined, 
and inseparably interwoven with those ceremonies ; in the sys- 
tem of castes, a system which tends, more than any thing else 
the Devil has yet invented, to destroy the feelings of general 
benevolence, and to make nine-tenths of mankind the hopeless 
slaves of the remainder; and in the total absence of any popular 
system of morals, or any single lesson which the people at large 
ever hear, to live virtuously and do good to each other. I do not 
say, indeed, that there are not some scattered lessons of this kind 
to be found in their ancient books; but those books are neither 
accessible to the people at large, nor are these last permitted to 
read them ; and in general all the sins that a sudra is taught to 

Vol. 11—37 



292 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



fear are, killing a cow, offending a brahmin, or neglecting one of 
the many frivolous rites by which their deities are supposed to be 
conciliated. Accordingly, though the general sobriety of the 
Hindoos (a virtue which they possess in common with most in- 
habitants of warm climates,) affords a very great facility to the 
maintenance of public order and decorum, I really never have met 
with a race of men whose standard of morality is so low, who 
feel so little apparent shame on being detected in a falsehood, or 
so little interest in the sufferings of a neighbour, not being of their 
own caste or family ; whose ordinary and familiar conversation is 
so licentious ; or, in the wilder and more lawless districts, who 
shed blood with so little repugnance. The good qualities which 
there are among them (and thank God there is a great deal of 
good among them still) are, in no instance that I am aware of, 
connected with, or arising out of, their religion, since it is in no 
instance to good deeds or virtuous habits of life that the future 
rewards in which they believe are promised. Their bravery, their 
fidelity to their employers, their temperance, and (wherever they 
are found) their humanity, and gentleness of disposition, appear 
to arise exclusively from a natural happy temperament, from an 
honourable pride in their own renown, and the renown of their 
ancestors; and from the goodness of God, who seems unwilling 
that his image should be entirely defaced even in the midst of the 
grossest error. The Mussulmans have a far better creed, and 
though they seldom either like the English, or are liked by them, 
I am inclined to think are, on the whole, a better people. Yet 
even with them, the forms of their worship have a natural ten- 
dency to make men hypocrites, and the overweening contempt 
with which they are inspired for all the world beside, the degra- 
dation of their women by the system of polygamy, and the detes- 
table crimes, which, owing to this degradation, are almost universal, 
are such as, even if I had no ulterior hope, would make me anxious 
to attract them to a better or more harmless system. 

In this work, thank God, in those parts of India which I have 
visited, a beginning has been made, and a degree of success ob- 
tained, at least commensurate to the few years during which our 
Missionaries have laboured; and it is still going on in the best and 
safest way, as the work of private persons alone, and although not 
forbidden, in no degree encouraged by government. In the mean- 
time, and as an useful auxiliary to the Missionaries, the establish- 
ment of elementary schools for the lower classes and for females, is 
going on to a very great extent, and might be carried to any con- 
ceivable extent to which our pecuniary means would carry us. 
Nor is there any measure from which I anticipate more speedy 
benefit than the elevation of the rising generation of females to 
their natural rank in society, and giving them, (which is all 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



293 



that, in any of our schools, we as yet venture to give,) the lessons 
of general morality extracted from the Gospel, without any 
direct religious instruction. These schools, such of them at least 
as I have any concern with, are carried on without any help 
from government. Government has, however, been very liberal 
in its grants, both to a Society for National Education, and in 
the institution and support of two Colleges of Hindoo students 
of riper age, the one at Benares, the other at Calcutta. But 
I do not think any of these Institutions, in the way after which 
they are at present conducted, likely to do much good. In the 
elementary schools supported by the former, through a very 
causeless and ridiculous fear of giving offence to the natives, they 
have forbidden the use of the Scriptures or any extracts from 
them, though the moral lessons of the Gospel are read by all Hin- 
doos who can get hold of them, without scruple, and with much 
attention; and though their exclusion is tantamount to excluding 
all moral instruction from their schools, the Hindoo sacred writ- 
ings having nothing of the kind, and, if they had, being shut up 
from the majority of the people by the double fence of a dead 
language, and an actual prohibition to read them, as too holy for 
common eyes or ears. The defects of the latter will appear, when 
I have told you that the actual state of Hindoo and Mussulman 
literature, mutatis mutandis, very nearly resembles what the lite- 
rature of Europe was before the time of Galileo, Copernicus, and 
Bacon. The Mussulmans take their logic from Aristotle, filtered 
through many successive translations and commentaries ; and their 
metaphysical system is professedly derived from Plato, (" Fila- 
toun.") The Hindoos have systems not very dissimilar from these, 
though, I am told, of greater length, and more intricacy ; but the 
studies in which they spend most of their time, are the acquisition 
of the Sanscrit, and the endless refinements of its grammar, pro- 
sody, and poetry. Both have the same Natural Philosophy, which 
is also that of Aristotle in Zoology and Botany, and Ptolemy in 
Astronomy, for which the Hindoos have forsaken their more an- 
cient notions of the seven seas, the six earths, and the flat base of 
Padalon, supported on the back of a tortoise. By the science 
which they now possess, they are some of them able to foretell 
an eclipse, or compose an almanac ; and many of them derive some 
little pecuniary advantage from pretensions to judicial astrology. 
In medicine and chemistry they are just sufficiently advanced to 
talk of substances being moist, dry, hot, &c. in the third or fourth 
degree ; to dissuade from letting blood, or physicking, on a Tues- 
day, or under a particular aspect of the heavens, ami to b^ eager 
in their pursuit of the philosopher's stone, and the elixir of im- 
mortality. 

. The task of enlightening the studious youth of such a nation 



t 



594 CORRESPONDENCE. 

would seem to be a tolerably straight-forward one. But though, 
for the college in Calcutta, (not Bishop's College, remember, but 
the Vidalaya, or Hindoo College,) an expensive set of instruments 
has been sent out, and it seems intended that the natural sciences 
should be studied there, the mauagers of the present institution 
take care that their boys should have as little time as possible for 
such pursuits, by requiring from them all, without exception, a la- 
borious study of Sanscrit, and all the useless, and worse than use- 
less, literature of their ancestors. A good deal of this has been 
charged (and in some little degree charged with justice,) against 
the exclusive attention paid to Greek and logic, till lately, in Ox- 
ford. But in Oxford we have never been guilty (since a better 
system was known in the world at large,) of teaching the physics 
of Aristotle, however we may have paid an excessive attention to 
his metaphysics and dialectics. 

In Benares, however, I found in the institution supported by 
government, a professor lecturing on astronomy after the system of 
Ptolemy and Albunazar, while one of the most forward boys was 
at the pains of casting my horoscope ; and the majority of the 
school were toiling at Sanscrit grammar. And yet the day before* 
in the same holy city, I had visited another college, founded lately 
by a wealthy Hindoo banker, and entrusted by him to the manage- 
ment of the Church Missionary Society, in which, besides a gram- 
matical knowledge of the Hindoostanee language, as well as Per- 
sian and Arabic, the senior boys could pass a good examination 
in English grammar, in Hume's History of England, Joyce's Sci- 
entific Dialogues, the use of the globes, and the principal facts and 
moral precepts of the Gospel, most of them writing beautifully in 
the Persian, and very tolerably in the English character, and ex- 
celling most boys T have met with in the accuracy and readiness 
of their arithmetic. The English officer who is now in charge of 
the Benares Vidalaya is a clever and candid young man, and under 
him I look forward to much improvement. . . . Ram Mohun 
Roy, a learned native, who has sometimes been called, though 
I fear without reason, a Christian, remonstrated against this sys- 
tem last year, in a paper which he sent me. to be put into Lord 
Amherst's hands, and which, for its good English, good sense, and 
forcible arguments, is a real curiosity, as coming from an Asiatic. 
I have not since been in Calcutta, and know not whether any im- 
provement has occurred in consequence. But from the unbound- 
ed attachment to Sanscrit literature displayed by some of those 
who chiefly manage those affairs, I have no great expectation of 
the kind. Of the value of the acquirements which so much is 
sacrificed to retain, 1 can only judge from translations, and they 
certainly do not seem to me worth picking out of the rubbish 
under which they were sinking. Some of the poetry of the 



.4 



CORRESPONDENCE. 295 

Mahabarah I am told is good, and I think a good deal of the 
Ramayuna pretty. But no work has yet been produced which 
even pretends to be authentic history. No useful discoveries in 
science are, I believe, so much as expected, and I have no great 
sympathy with those students who value a worthless tract, merely 
because it calls itself old, or ajanguage which teaches nothing, 
for the sake of its copiousness and intricacy. If I were to run 
wild after Oriental learning, I should certainly follow that of the 
Mussulmans, whose histories seem really very much like those of 
Europe, and whose poetry, so far as I am yet able to judge, has 
hardly had justice done to it in the ultra flowery translations 
which have appeared in the West. But after all, 1 will own my 
main quarrel with the institutions which I have noticed, is their 
needless and systematic exclusion of the Gospels, since they not 
only do less good than they might have done, but are actually, in 
my opinion, productive of serious harm, by awaking the dormant 
jealousy of the native against the schools which pursue a different 
system. 

During my long journey through the northern half of this vast 
country, I have paid all the attention I could spare to a topic on 
which Schlegel bitterly reproves the English for their inattention 
to, the architectural antiquities of Hindoostan. I had myself 
heard much of these before I set out, and had met with many 
persons both in Europe and at Calcutta (where nothing of the 
kind exists) who spoke of the present natives of India as a de- 
generate race, whose inability to rear such splendid piles was a 
proof that these last belong to a remote antiquity. I have seen, 
however, enough to convince me, both that the Indian masons 
and architects of the present day only w r ant patrons sufficiently 
wealthy, or sufficiently zealous, to do all which their ancestors 
have done ; and that there are very few structures here which 
can, on any satisfactory grounds, be referred to a date so early as 
the greater part of our own cathedrals. Often in upper Hin- 
doostan, and still more frequently in Rajpootana and Malwah, I 
have met with new and unfinished shrines, cisterns, and ghats, as 
beautifully carved, and as well proportioned as the best of those 
of an earlier date. And though there are many buildings and 
ruins which exhibit a most venerable appearance, there are seve- 
ral causes in this country which produce this appearance prema- 
turely. In the first instance, we ourselves have a complex im- 
pression made on us by the sight of edifices so distant from our 
own country, and so unlike whatever we have seen there. W e 
multiply, as it were, the geographical and moral distance into the 
chronological, and can hardly persuade ourselves that we are con- 
temporaries with an object so far removed in every other re- 
spect. Besides this, however, the finest masonry in these climates 



296 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



is sorely tried by the alternate influence of a pulverizing sun, and 
a continued three months , rain. The wild fig tree, (peepul or 
ficus religiosa,) which no Hindoo can root out, or even lop with- 
out a deadly sin, soon sows its seeds, and fixes its roots in the 
joints of the arching, and being of rapid growth at the same time, 
in a very few years increases its picturesque and antique appear- 
ance, and secures its eventual destruction ; lastly, no man in this 
country repairs or completes what his father has begun, pre- 
ferring to begin something else, by which his own name may be 
remembered. Accordingly, in Dacca are many fine ruins, which at 
first impressed me with a great idea of their age. Yet Dacca is a 
modern city, founded, or at least raised from insignificance under 
Shah Jehanguire in A. D. 1608 ; and the tradition of the place is 
that these fine buildings were erected by European architects in 
the service of the then governor. At Benares, the principal temple 
has an appearance so venerable, that one might suppose it to have 
stood unaltered ever since the Greta Yug, and that Menu and Ca- 
pila had performed austerities within its precincts. Yet it is his- 
torically certain that all the Hindoo temples of consequence in 
Benares were pulled down by Aurungzebe, the contemporary of 
Charles the Second, and that the present structure must have 
been raised since that time. The observatories of Benares, Del- 
hi, and Jyepoor, I heard spoken of in the carelessness of conver- 
sation, not only as extremely curious in themselves, (which they 
certainly are,) but as monuments of the ancient science of the 
Hindoos. All three, however, are known to be the work of the 
Rajah Jye Singh, who died in 1742. 

* A remote antiquity is, with better reason, claimed for some 
idols of black stone, and elegant columns of the same material, 
which have been collected in different parts of the districts of 
Rhotas, Bulnem, &c. These belong to the religion of a sect (the 
Buddhists) of which no remains are now found in those provinces. 
But I have myself seen images exactly similar in|he newly-erect- 
ed temples of the Jains, a sect of the Buddhists, still wealthy and 
numerous in Guzerat, Rajpootana, and Malwah ; and in a coun- 
try where there is literally no history, it is impossible to say how 
long since or how lately they may have lost their ground in the 
more eastern parts of Gundwana. In the wilds which I have 
lately been traversing, at Chittore Ghur more particularly, there 
are some very beautiful buildings, of which the date was obvious- 
ly assigned at random, and which might be 500 or 1000, or 150 
years old, for all their present guardians know about the matter. 
But it must always be borne in mind, that 1000 years are as ea- 
sily said as 10, and that in the mouth of a Cicerone they are 
sometimes thought to sound rather better. The oldest things 
which I have seen, of which the date could be at all ascertained, 



CORRESPONDENCE. 297 

are some detached blocks of marble, with inscriptions, but of no 
appalling remoteness ; and two remarkable pillars of black mixed 
metal, in a Patan fort, near Delhi, and at Cuttab-minar, in the 
same neighbourhood ; both covered with inscriptions which no- 
body can now read, but both mentioned in Mussulman history as 
in their present situation, at the time when the " believers" con- 
quered Delhi, about A. D. 1000. But what is this to the date of 
the Parthenon 1 or how little can these trifling relics bear comparison 
with the works of Greece and Egj^pt? Ellora and Elephanta I 
have not yet seen ; T can believe all which is said of their size 
and magnificence ; but they are without date or inscription; they 
are, I understand, not mentioned, even incidentally, in any San- 
scrit manuscript. Their images, &c. are the same with those 
now worshipped in every part of India, and there have been 
many Rajahs and wealthy individuals in every age of Indian 
history, who have possessed the means of carving a huge stone 
quarry into a cathedral. To our cathedrals, after all, they are, I 
understand, very inferior in size. All which can be known is, that 
Elephanta must probably have been begun (whether it was ever 
finished seems very doubtful) before the arrival of the Portuguese 
at Bombay ; and that Ellora may reasonably be concluded to have 
been erected in a time of peace, under a Hindoo prince, and 
therefore either before the first Afghan conquest, or, subsequent- 
ly, during the recovered independence of that part of Candeish 
and the Deckan. This is no great matter certainly, and it may 
be older ; but all I say is, that we have no reason to conclude it 
is so, and the impression on my mind decidedly accords with 
Mill, that the Hindoos, after all, though they have doubtlessly ex- 
isted from very great antiquity, as an industrious and civilized 
people, had made no great progress in the arts, and took all their 
notions of magnificence from the models furnished by their Ma- 
hommedan conquerors. 

We are now engaged, as you are aware, in a very expensive 
and tedious war in countries whither the Mahommedans were 
never able to penetrate. This tediousness, together with the 
partial reverses which the armies have sustained, has given rise 
to all manner of evil reports among the people of Hindoostan, 
and to a great deal of grumbling and discontent among the 
English. After all, I cannot myself perceive that there is any 
body to blame. Every body cried out for war in the first instance, 
as necessary^to the honour of the government, and murmured 
greatly against Lord Amherst, for not being more ready than he 
was to commence it. Of the country which we were to invade 
no intelligence could be obtained ; and in fact our armies have 
had little to contend with, except a most impracticable and un- 
known country. It is unfortunate, however, that after a year and 



298 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



a half of war we should, except in point of dear-bought experi- 
ence, be no further advanced than at the beginning, and there are 
very serious grounds for apprehending, that if any great calamity 
occurred in the East, a storm would follow on our north-western 
and western frontier, which, with our present means, it would be 
by no means easy to allay. Something, however, has been gained ; 
if we can do little harm to the Birmans, it is evident, from their 
conduct in the field, that, beyond their own jungles, they can do 
still less harm to us. And the inhabitants of Calcutta, who, about 
this time of year, were asking leave to send their property into 
the citadel, and packing off their wives and children across the 
river, will hardly again look forward to seeing their war-boats on 
the salt-water lake, or the golden umbrellas of their chiefs erect- 
ed on the top of St. John's Cathedral. I was then thought little 
better than a madman for venturing to Dacca. Now the mem- 
bers of government are called all manner of names, because their 
troops have found unexpected difficulty in marching to Um- 

merapoora. 

For me there are very many ingredients of happiness ; much to 
be seen, much to be learned, and much, I almost fear too much, 
to be done or attempted. I have been hitherto so fortunate as to 
be on the best possible terms with the government, and on very 
friendly lerms with nine out of ten of my few clergy; and in my 
present journey 1 have, I hope, been the means of doing some 
good, both to them and their congregations. Indeed my journey 
has been perfectly professional ; and, though I certainly did not 
shut my eyes or ears by the way, I have been at no place which 
was not either a scene of duty, or in the direct and natural way 
to one. And every where I am bound to say I have met with 
great kindness and attention from the local magistrates, down to 
the European soldiers, and from the Rajas and Kings down to the 
poor native Christians. 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO R. J. WILMOT HORTON, ESQ. 

Bombay, May 10, 1825. 

* * * . # . # .. 

* * * *, # 

The recent invasion of Cutch, by some of the wild people of 
the Sindian provinces, which at one time menaced serious con- 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



299 



sequences, has now subsided, and was probably, only an effect 
of the dismal distress from drought and famine, under which all 
those miserable and turbulent countries are now suffering. But 
the attention of all India is fixed on the siege of Bhurtpoor, in 
Rajpootana, on the event of which, far more than on any thing 
which may happen in the Birman empire, the renown of the 
British arms, and the permanency of the British Empire in Asia 
must depend. The Jats are the finest people in bodily advantages 
and apparent martial spirit whom I have seen in India, and their 
country one of the most fertile and best cultivated. Having once 
beaten off Lord Lake from their city, they have ever since not 
only regarded themselves as invincible, but have been so esteemed 
by the greater part of the Maharattas, Rajpoots, Sic. who have 
always held up their example as the rallying point and main en- 
couragement to resistance, insomuch that, even when I was passing 
through Malwah, "gallantee shows,''' like those carried about by 
the Savovards, were exhibited at the fairs and in the towns of that 
wild district, which displayed, among other patriotic and popular 
scenes, the red coats driven back in dismay from the ramparts, 
and the victorious Jats pursuing them sabre in hand. 

Their fortress, too, has really all the advantages which can 
arise from an excellent situation, an imposing profile, a deep and 
wide ditch, a good shew of cannon, and a very numerous and 
hardy garrison, while the means which Sir D. Ochterlony has 
been able to collect against it, though really far more considera- 
ble than could, under all circumstances, have been expected, are 
described, in a letter from General Reynell, as very barely ade- 
quate to all which they have to do ; while the present intensely 
hot season is a circumstance greatly unfavourable. Still I do not 
find that any of my military acquaintance despond. On the con- 
trary, they all appear to rejoice at the opportunity offered for ef- 
facing the former very injurious impression which had been made 
by Lord Lake's failure, though they admit that, should our army fail 
again, few events would go so near to fulfil the shouts of the mob 
a few months back in the streets of Delhi, — " Company ka raj ko 
guia !' 1 " The rule of the Company is at an end !" Meantime, hearti- 
ly as I desire the success of our arms, and the more so because the 
cause, I believe, is really a just one, I am very sorry for the Jats 
themselves, with whose rough independent manner I was much 
pleased, and who shewed me all possible civilities and hospitality 
in passing through their country. One strange feature in the case 
is, that j^he war and siege have been commenced by Sir D. Och- 
terlony on his own sole authority, and without any communica- 
tion with the Supreme Government ! I believe he was fully 
justified by the urgency of the case ; but this is one among many 
proofs which have fallen under my notice, how impossible it is 

Vol. IT. — 38 



300 CORRESPONDENCE. 

to govern these remote provinces from Calcutta, and how desi- 
rable it is to establish a separate Presidency for Northern and 
Central India, either at Agra, Meerut, or, perhaps, Saugor. 

In the midst of these troubles, and of those other smaller blood- 
lettings which are pretty constantly going on in one part or other 
of this vast country, I have had much reason to be thankful for 
my own peaceable progress through districts where, a very few 
weeks sooner or later, I should have met with obstacles far be- 
yond the reach of that little military array which I described in 
my last letter. I passed Bhurtpoor a month before the war began, 
and Jyepoor little more than a month after the revolution which 
had taken place there was tolerably settled. A similar good for- 
tune attended me with regard to a rebellion in Doongurpoor, and 
a very sanguinary quarrel between two rival Mussulman sects, 
at Mundipoor ; while, in crossing the jungles between Malwah 
and Guzerat, had I been ten days later, I should have found the 
road literally impassable, through the exhaustion of the wells in 
the present drought, and the almost total drying up of the Myhe 
and its tributary streams. As it was, I suffered from nothing but 
heat, which, in Guzerat I found very intense, the thermometer 
frequently standing at 109° in my tent. My medical companion, 
and most of my servants, had fevers. I myself weathered the 
march very tolerably, though I certainly was not sorry to find my- 
self " once more upon the waters, yet once more," at Surat. 
From that city I embarked on the 18th of April for Bombay, a 
pleasant three days' passage. This is a very beautiful little island, 
though now sadly burnt up. As a town and place of residence, 
it cannot compare with Calcutta, though in climate, at this season, 
it is superior. Its main advantage, however, is the society of Mr. 
Elphinstone, one of the ablest and most gentlemanly men I have 
ever known, and possessing a degree of popularity and personal 
influence, as well as an intimate knowledge of every person and 
thing within the government, which I never saw before, except, 

perhaps, in the Duke of Richelieu, at Odessa. 

******* 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO JOHN THORNTON, ESQ. 

Bombay, May 12, f 1825. 

I have owed you a letter so long that I feel now, like other tar- 
dy debtors, almost ashamed to pay it. My silence, however, has 
not been occasioned by my having ceased, I may say even for a 



CORRESPONDENCE. 301 

day, to recollect and love you, but from various causes, arising 
out of the way of life in which I have been engaged, which 
have left me little time to attend to the epistolary duties of friend- 
ship. 

******* 
* * * * * * * 

During the whole of my residence in this country, and more 
than ever since, in the course of this long journey, I have been 
enabled to see and hear a good deal of the advantages and disad- 
vantages of an Indian life, your boys have been very frequently 
in my mind, and my general impression has certainly been that, 
though, except under very unusual circumstances, great wealth is 
now no longer to be looked for in India, and though the dangers 
of the climate are, I think, rather underrated than otherwise in 
Europe, the service still is one of the best within an Englishman's 
reach, as affording to every young man of talent, industry, and 
good character, a field of honourable and useful exertion, and a 
prospect of moderate competency, without any greater risk of 
health and life than, with such views before him, and with a reli- 
ance on God's good providence, a Christian is fully justified in 
encountering. One great and grievous evil, — the longand almost 
hopeless separation from country and friends, is now greatly 
abated by the plan said to be adopted by the Court of Directors, 
which not only secures to their civil servants a pension after a 
certain length of residence in India, but allows likewise of a fur- 
lough after a portion of that time is expired. And I need hardly, 
I trust, say that during the time which your sons must be sepa- 
rated from you, I hope they will always look on me as their un- 
cle, and that it will be a pride and pleasure to my wife and my- 
self, to supply, as far as we can supply, the place of Mrs. Thorn- 
ton and yourself to them. 

With regard to the moral and religious dangers of India, I am 
not justified in concealing from you that they are still many and 
great. I do not, indeed, think that the temptations to gross im- 
morality are more numerous here than elsewhere. Drunkenness 
is almost unknown in good society, and its effects on the health 
are so rapid and terrible, and it is regarded with so much dislike 
and disgust by the majority of those by whose influence public 
opinion is guided, that there is little reason to apprehend its ever 
becoming fashionable. And connection with native women, 
though sadly common among the elder officers of the arm)', is, so 
far as I can learn, among the younger servants, either civil or mi- 
litary, at present by no means a fashionable vice. It is the same 
with gambling, the turf, and other similar pursuits : they are not 
followed by many, and those who do follow them are, I think, re- 
garded by the young men themselves as more or less raffs. '£ ne 



302 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



dangers of India seem to me to be in Calcutta,— ostentatious ex- 
pense and continued dissipation ; and in the remoter stations still 
more than in Calcutta, a forgetfulness and disuse of the external 
means of grace and godliness. A greater danger than either of 
these has been very common, but is now, I am told^ less frequent 
or less prominent than it used to be ; I mean an unbelief in, and 
denial of, Christianity. Of this last it was not likely that I should 
myself see many instances, but that it is sometimes to be met with 
I have learned from a very amiable young man, who had heard 
some specious and mischievous arguments during the course of his 
residence, which had disquieted him a good deal, and of which I am 
happy to believe that I succeeded in effacing the impression. But 
these dangers, great as they are, are certainly not peculiar to In- 
dia. They will be found more or less every where, where young 
persons are left to themselves, as all young men must be, in a great 
degree, at an early age. And there are, by G od's mercy, some coun- 
tervailing circumstances which make me think both that India is, in 
these respects, less dangerous now than it was, and which may 
afford a reasonable hope to a Christian parent that a youth well- 
grounded in his principles will pass unharmed through the triaL 
In the first place, a boy who desires to live a wise and Christian 
life, however he may be endangered by bad example and bad ad- 
vice, will at least not find himself alone in his good resolutions. 
He will almost everywhere throughout India rind others of his 
own age to countenance him, both in the civil and military services, 
and many of these men too highly esteemed for talents and expec- 
tations to admit of the cause which they support being depressed 
or generally unpopular. 1 have met, to my very great comfort 
and satisfaction, with many of these good young men, more (as 
might be expected from their greater number) in the military than 
the civil service, but enough in both to give a reasonable hope 
that if your sons come out such as I hope to see them, they will 
find many like-minded with themselves, and no want of friends of 
the best and most valuable description. 

Another great blessing, and one which must contribute greatly 
to continue and increase the advantage which I have just men- 
tioned, is that, I think, the greater part of the young married 
women who make up in the Mofussil stations almost the only 
female society, and who exert, as may be expected, a very impor- 
tant influence over, not their husbands only, but their husbands' 1 
friends and guests, are domestic, well-disposed, and religious. 
Married for the most part very early, thrown by the circumstances 
of the climate, and by the active and continual employments in 
which the men are engaged, very much on themselves, and to seek 
amusement in reading or with their children, they are, even in 
Calcutta, more generally domestic, retired, and quiet than might 



CORRESPONDENCE. 303 

have been expected, and in the country stations, where their seclu- 
sion is necessarily greater, they most of them appeared to me to 
have thought more, and to have less reluctance to converse on 
religion than the generality of females in England. 

Another favourable circumstance to the maintenance and in- 
crease of Christian principles in India, is the character of the great 
majority of the Clergy now amongst us. In this respect a very 
happy change has taken place within the last few years. 

^£ ^ ^ 

"fa ^ ^ 

Out of twenty-six resident Clergymen of the Church of Englnad 
on.the Bengal establishment, with the greater number of whom I 
am personally acquainted, I find none whose lives are tainted 
with the suspicion of immorality, none who are habitually careless 
in the discharge of their duty, and except one unfortunate case 

hardly any thing has occurred to give me pain 

during my visitation, while there are really some among them 
whose names would rank high for talent, temper, zeal, soundness 
of doctrine, and holiness of life, in the best and brightest periods 
of ecclesiastical history. Such an one is my excellent friend 
Corrie, whose character, much as I valued and loved him before, 
I only learned to understand and appreciate fully during my 
journey through Hindoostan, from tracing in almost every part of 
it the effects of his labours, and the honour in which his name is 
held both by Christians, Hindoos, and Mussulmans. 

^f* "fc 

This is, however, a parenthesis. I am now speaking of the 
means of religious improvement afforded to a young man in India, 
and I am very thankful to be able to say, that though we are still 
most lamentably short of hands, for one and thirty chaplains is a 
very bare complement, and it will seldom happen that more than 
one-half of those will be resident and effective at the same time ; 
still, if a young man can get the opportunity of hearing a sermon 
in Bengal, the chance is, that he will hear what will do him good. 
Nor is this all ; if a young man is actually religious, I know few 
countries where he runs so little risk of having his religion embit- 
tered by religious controversy. Except in Calcutta itself, and its 
neighbourhood, there is actually no sect worth naming, except 
the Church of England. . . . All the Scotch who are worth 
having, when out of Calcutta, come to church with us, and many 
officers of that nation have been confirmed by me, as an indica- 
tion of their purpose to join us entirely. And though there are 
some hot-headed zealots of the two parties within the Church, 
whom I have some difficulty in keeping from occasional quarrels, 
few countries Qan be found in which the feuds between Calvinists 



304 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



and Arminians are at present heard less of than in India. All the 

members of the Church are, in fact, busy, and there are so many, 

and so important objects at which all must labour, that we have 

neither time nor hands to spare, for calling names and throwing 

dirt in each other's faces. 

****** 

* * * * * * 

Under all these circumstances, with the advantage of a good 
education in England, and with those continued and prevailing 
prayers with which you and their mother will follow them where- 
ever they go, I certainly see no reason to dissuade you from trust- 
ing your boys in this other world, for such it doubtless may be 
called, when compared with the scenery, habits, and circum- 
stances of Europe. Heaven grant that both in a worldly and 
heavenly view, the experiment may be a happy one ! 

Thus far I had written six weeks ago, and soon after my arrival 
within the bounds of the Bombay Presidency. 1 had then no 
immediate opportunity of sending my letter. I have been since 
so much engaged, that I have, from week to week, been induced 
to defer putting the finishing stroke to it. What follows must be 
chiefly on business, I hope the Church Missionary Society re- 
ceived, long since, my acknowledgmnts of their continued and 
splendid munificence to Bishop's College. Ttis my hope, as soon 
as I return to Calcutta, to carry into effect their wishes, in found- 
ing one Scholarship, at least, to bear their name, and to hold the 
same place in the establishment with those of the other Societies^ 
and to increase the numbers in succeeding years to any amount 
they may wish, and the limits of the building may suffice for. In 
the first instance 1 have been led to apply their bounty to the 
completion of the College buildings, more particular!}' the chapel, 
where it will be acknowledged by an inscription, and for which 
the bare funds of the institution were perfectly insufficient. In- 
deed, we are still exceedingly poor. The expense, both of build- 
ing and of the monthly bills, has far exceeded every calculation 
which Bishop Middleton had made ; and though the diet, &c. 
both of students and missionaries, is conducted on a scale of the 
utmost frugality consistent with health and decency, all our means 
w 7 ould be insufficient, if it were not for the hopes which I am en- 
deavouring to realize, of a general collection and subscription in 
the different Presidencies of India. In every thing but money 
the College goes on as well as an infant establishment can do. 
The Principal is really indefatigable, and the five youths who are 
now under his care are spoken of by him as most promising, and 
in terms not only of approbation, but affection. 

I will only add, that the more which I see of .India, the more 

m 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



305 



I am convinced that its conversion will be best accomplished by 
the agency of natives of the country, and that we have already 
almost reached the moment when it will be no longer desirable to 

incur the great expense of sending out Missionaries from Europe. 

* * * * * * * , 

* * ■ ' *_ * * * * 
******* 

I really hope that a little energy and prudence only are necessary, 
with God's blessing, to make your society a far more efficient source 
of light and health to India, than it has yet been ; and for our aug- 
mented endeavours there is great and blessed encouragement in 
the good which has already been done. 1 was not able to visit 
Burdwan ; but in the stations which I did visit, I had the happi- 
ness of confirming and administering the Sacrament to above two 
hundred native converts, all so far as I could learn, well-informed 
in their religion ; and all, so far as I could judge, actuated by a 
devotional spirit, the meekest, the most intense, and touching, 
which in any body of people I ever witnessed. Nor w T as the pro- 
mise held out by the children, the schools, and the individuals 
scattered through the country, whom I met from time to time, but 
who could not be collected to receive confirmation, less delightful 
to me. Surely there is no inconsiderable progress, when we take 
into consideration the few years that the Church of England has 
made any attempt to spread her doctrines in the north of India. 

^* ^ 

* * * * * 

1 have now about half finished the visitation of my diocese, a 
task which has employed me above ten months of almost constant 
travelling, during which I have seldom slept under any roof but 
that of my tent, or in the cabin of my boat, and have traversed, I 
should guess, not much less than three thousand miles either by 
water or on horseback. During all this time I have been greatly 
favoured in the general health and protection which God has ex- 
tended to me, in His help under a sharp fever, when I was far 
removed from all medical aid, and without any friend or coun- 
tryman near me ; in being preserved from infection in districts 
where several of my people fell dangerously ill, and from wars 
and violence in those parts of Central India, where tranquillity 
can never long be counted on. 

I passed Bhurtpoor about a month before, and Jyepoor a month 
after, disturbances which would have, probably, put an effectual 
stop to my progress ; and a similar good fortune attended me in 
the neighbourhoods of Mundissore and Doongurpoor, as well as 
in Guzerat, all which districts have been more or less disturbed 
and dangerous. In almost every instance I met with hospitality 
and kindness not only from my own countrymen, but from the 



306 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



native princes ; and I have reason to hope that I have made my- 
self not unacceptable either to Christians or heathens. Meantime 
I have found much to interest and delight me during my long 
journey. I thought much of you and of my long ramble with 
you, as I stood on the cedar-tufted mountains of Kemaoon, 8000 
feet above the level of the sea, and with the range of Himalaya 
25,800 feet high, within forty miles distance. I thought of you 
again, and wished much for you, while visiting the noble marble 
palace of Delhi and Agra ; and while I was comparing, in recol- 
lection, my Rajpoot and Maharatta escorts, with our Cossac friends 
in the Cuban. By the way, " Cosak" is the common word for a 
predatory horseman all through Northern and Central India. Still, 
however, with all these qualifications of curiosity, I have had many 
things to keep me from forgetting the peculiar and appropriate 
object of my journey, as you will believe when I mention, that 
though many of my Sundays were, of course, necessarily passed 
in wildernesses remote from European or Christian society, yet 
I have found occasion and opportunity to preach above fifty times 
since I left Calcutta. And though I have certainly not shut my 
eyes to the different objects of interest and beauty near which my 
route carried me, I can truly say that I have never gone out of my 
way in pursuit of such objects, and have been no where where I 
had not professional duties to perform, or which was not in the 
direct road to some scene of such duties. After all, in looking 
back at the vast and promising field which I have passed, my 
heart is ready to sink when I recollect how much more I might 
have done, and how many things I have omitted, or hurried over. 
Another time, if I am spared to perform the same journey again, 
I shall know better how to arrange my plans, and Heaven grant 
that I may be more diligent in carrying them into effect ! My wife 

and little Emily came hither by sea ten days ago. 

# * # * # • * 

We are to remain here till after the first fall of rain. Then I 
purpose to march to Poonah, and after returning hither to sail to 
Calcutta, taking Cannanore, Cochin, the Syrian Churches, and 
Ceylon in my way. I trust to be at home again by the beginning 
of the cool weather. Madras, and the remainder of India, Banga- 
lore, Hydrabad, and Nagpoor, I must reserve to another year. I 
have much to do in all these places, but I cannot without incon- 
venience to the whole diocese, be so long absent from Calcutta 
as would be necessary for me to visit all India in a single journey. 

Dear Thornton, 

Ever your obliged and affectionate friend, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



307 



TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD GRENVILLE. 

Bombay, June 1, 1825. 

My Lord, 

I beg your Lordship to accept my best thanks for your obliging 
letter, as well as for the valuable and interesting present which it 
announces. The latter is, I trust, awaiting my arrival at Calcutta, 
the former reached me a few weeks since on my arrival within 
the bounds of this government. It will, on every account, give 
me most sincere pleasureto find myself able in the slightest degree 
to contribute to the completeness of your Lordship's collection 
of plants, and I have written to Mr. Traill, a gentleman who 
holds the chief civil employment in Kemaoon, and who is more 
intimately acquainted than most persons whom I know with the 
forests and glaciers of the Himalaya, requesting him to send down 
to Calcutta, with the precautions your Lordship suggests, some 
acorns of the mountain Ilex, and some cones of all the different 
species of pine which he can obtain within the limits of his juris- 
diction, the soil, climate,, and productions of which differ, as I 
understand, in no material respect from those of the other and 
unconquered provinces of the Nypalese monarchy. A visit which 
I paid to those glorious mountains in November and December 
last, was unfortunately too much limited by the short time at my 
disposal, and by the advanced season, to admit of my penetrating 
far into their recesses, nor am I so fortunate as to be able to ex- 
amine their productions with the eye of a botanist. But though 
the woods are very noble, and the general scenery possesses a 
degree of magnificence such as I had never before either seen, or 
(I may say) imagined, the species of pine which I was able to dis- 
tinguish were not numerous. The most common is a tall and 
stately, but brittle, fir, in its general character not unlike the Scot- 
tish, but with a more branching head, which in some degree 
resembles that of the Italian pine. Another, and of less frequent 
occurrence, is a splendid tree with gigantic arms and dark narrow 
leaves, which is accounted sacred, and chiefly seen in the neigh- 
bourhood of ancient Hindoo temples, and which struck my unsci- 
entific eye as very nearly resembling the cedar of Lebanon. But 
these I found flourishing at near 9000 feet above the level of the 
sea, and where the frost was as severe at night as is usually met 
with at the same season in England. But between this, which was 
the greatest height that I climbed, and the limit of perpetual snow, 
there is doubtless ample space for many other species of plants, to 
some of which a Dropmore winter must be a season of vernal 
mildness. The ilex, which was the only species of oak I saw, grows 
to a great size on the sides of the secondary range, mingled with 
the walnut, the crab, the small black cherry, and a truly European 
Vol. II.— 39 



308 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



underwood of blackthorn, brambles, raspberries, dog-roses, and 
very tall and formidable nettles, whose stings excited much aston- 
ishment and some alarm in my Hindoostanee followers, while I 
know not whether the feelings which the scenery suggested to me 
were more painful or pleasing, so completely was I often carried 
back to some parts of Shropshire and Montgomeryshire. I am not 
ashamed to say that the tears were more than once in my eyes as 
I rode through thickets, the very air of which breathed England, 
and by streams and little mountain lakes, as cold, as black, as clear 
and noisy, as if they had issued from Snowdon, though the spell 
was dissolved from time to time by the sight of mountains such as 
Europe has not to shew, and by the occasional glimpses of the 
still lower vallies, dark with the exuberant foliage of an Indian 
wood, and abounding in the usual eastern accompaniments of 
monkeys, gigantic snakes, and malignant vapours. These mon- 
keys and snakes are found but a little way up the hills, while on 
the other hand, the chamois is not seen below the highest peaks 
of the secondary range, and the yak, or Tibet cow, pines away 
when removed from the neighbourhood of its native glaciers. But 
there are other animals, to w 7 hom heat and cold seem matters of 
great indifference. The bear, the wolf, and the hyaena abound 
wherever there is food and covert, and the tyger is found of un- 
diminished size and ferocity, from the lowest level of the Terrai, 
or marshy forest, at the foot of the hills, up to the edge of 
the ice, and, I believe, even beyond the passes, into Chinese 
Tartary. 

-\> r ,V> J* 

-V *t* 7p yf* 

* * * * * 

Your Lordship will readily believe that I was not inattentive 
to the question which was much debated at the time of my leav- 
ing Europe, respecting the real height of these celebrated hills. I 
conversed on the subject with several of the officers concerned in 
the survey, who are men of undoubted talent and science. Their 
measurements, they all assured me, were taken with high-priced 
instruments, on repeated trials, and with a careful comparison of 
their respective operations, sharpened, indeed, by a natural jea- 
lousy of the extraordinary results to which those operations^ con- 
ducted them. For many of the highest peaks they had extremely 
favourable bases, and I can have no doubt, therefore, that their 
published tables may be depended on, and that Nundi Devi (which 
I feel some exultation in saying is completely within the limits of 
the British empire,) is really somewhere about 25,800 feet above 
the sea. Budrinath, Kedernath, and the three-fold peak above 
Gangoutree, are all considerably lower, though the Brahmins are 
very unwilling to allow that these last are not the highest of all. 
Some of the sepoys who form my escort were of this caste, and 



CORRESPONDENCE. 309 

I shall not easily forget the enthusiastic delight which they ex- 
pressed on first obtaining a view of Meru. I am willing to hope 
that your Lordship may not be uninterested in these few and im- 
perfect memoranda of the most remarkable and celebrated natural 
objects which India has to offer. 

# * * *. * * 

With the most sincere good wishes for the health and prosperity 
of your Lordship and your house, 

I remain, my Lord, 

With much esteem and respect, 

Your Lordship's obliged and faithful humble servant, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO THE HONOURABLE MRS. DOUGLASS. 

Bombay, June 7, 1825. 
% % % % * 

1 have, both for myself and mine, many mercies for which to be 
thankful, both for my own general good health and personal safe- 
ty, in countries not the most friendly to the human constitution, 
and where the safeguard of laws is little known ; in my recovery 
from one sharp fit of fever, of a kind which, though new in India, 
ran through almost all the Presidency of Bengal, during the latter 
part of the last rains ; and still more, in the recovery and restora- 
tion of my wife and children, in repeated attacks of fever, as well 
as for their safety under the less frequent and more romantic peril 
of their immediate neighbourhood to a conspiracy, a battle, and 
what might have been a massacre. From Emily herself you will 
probably have heard the details of the extraordinary and calami- 
tous events at Barrackpoor, of which she was an ear, and almost 
an eye-witness. 

For myself, I have every reason to think that India agrees with 
me ; and, though I do not pretend to be without occasional re- 
grets, and fits of home-sickness, I continue to like the country 
and the people, and to find the climate not intolerable. The 
months of April and May are, indeed, very and painfully oppres- 
sive, and those of September and the early part of October little 
less so. But the rainy months, though annoying and wearisome, 
are, for the most part, tolerably cool, and the winter months, from 
November to the middle of March, afford as agreeable a climate 
as any country can boast of. The country, of course, varies much 



310 CORRESPONDENCE. 

in scenery and productions on so wide a surface as I have now 
traversed; and though India, speaking of it generally, can hardly 
be spoken of as a picturesque region, and though its general fer- 
tility and wealth have also been greatly overrated, it contains 
many tracts of wild and original beauty, many very agreeable ex- 
panses of highly peopled and highly cultivated lands, many noble 
rivers, some unequalled mountains, and many works of ancient 
art, which may be fairly compared with, and perhaps even pre- 
ferred to the most celebrated structures in Europe. 

The different nations which I have seen in India (for it is a 
great mistake to suppose that all India is peopled by a single race, 
or that there is not as great disparity between the inhabitants of 
Guzerat, Bengal, the Dooab, and the Deckan, both in language, 
manners, and physiognomy, as between any four nations in Eu- 
rope,) have of course, in a greater or less- degree, the vices which 
must be expected to attend on arbitrary government, a demora- 
lising and absurd religion, and (in all the independent states, 
and in some of the districts which are partially subject to the 
British,) a laxity of law, and an almost universal prevalence of 
intestine feuds and habits of plunder. Their general character, 
however, has much which is extremely pleasing to me : they are 
brave, courteous, intelligent, and most eager after knowledge and 
improvement, with a remarkable talent for the sciences of geome- 
try, astronomy, &c, as well as for the arts of painting and sculp- 
ture. In all these points they have had great difficulties to strug- 
gle with, both from the want of models, instruments, and elemen- 
tary instruction ; the indisposition, or rather the horror, enter- 
tained, till lately, by many among their European masters for 
giving them instruction of any kind, and now, from the real diffi- • < 
culty which exists of translating works of science into languages 
which have no corresponding terms. More has been done, and 
more successfully, to obviate these evils in the Presidency of Bom- 
bay than in any part of India which I have yet visited, through 
the wise and liberal policy of Mr. Elphinstone ; to whom this 
side of the Peninsula is also indebted for some very important . 
and efficient improvements in the administration of justice, and 
who, both in amiable temper and manners, extensive and various 
information, acute good sense, energy, and application to busi- 
ness, is one of the most extraordinary men, as he is quite the 
most popular Governor, that I have fallen in with. 

*, , # * . * * 

Believe me, 

Ever your affectionate friend and cousin, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



311 



TO THE REVEREND J. J. BLUNT. 

Bombay, June 10, 1825. 
I am ashamed to recollect how long it is since T wrote to 
you, but you will excuse me when you are aware of the many 
circumstances which must prevent my ever becoming a good 
correspondent. I do not, indeed, think that in the regular and 
ordinary functions of my diocese, there is more or even so much 
to be done as in any of the more extensive bishoprics of England; 
the small number of the Clergy must prevent this being the case. 
But on the other hand, every thing which is done must be done 
by myself, both in its spirit and its details, and partly owing to the 
manner in which we are scattered, and partly to the general habit 
of the country, all must be done in writing. Questions, which in 
England would not occupy more than five minutes' conversation, 
may here sometimes call for a letter of six or eight pages ; and as 
nothing, or almost nothing which concerns the interests or duties 
of the Clergy, can be settled without a reference to government, 
I have, in fact, at least two sets of letters to write and receive in 
every important matter which comes before me. As Visitor of 
Bishop's College, 1 receive almost every week six or seven sheets 
of close writing on the subject. 1 am called on to give an opinion 
on the architecture, expense, and details of every church which is 
built, or proposed to be built, in India ; every application for salary of 
either clerk, sexton, schoolmaster, or bell-ringer, must pass through 
my hands, and be recommended in a letter to government. I am 
literally the conductor of all the missions in the three Presidencies ; 
and, what is most serious of all, I am obliged to act in almost every 
thing from my own single judgment, and on my own single respon- 
sibility, without any more experienced person to consult, or any 
precedent to guide me. I have, besides, not only the Indian clergy 
and the Indian government to correspond with, but the religious 
Societies at home, whose agent I am, and to whom I must send 
occasional letters, the composition of each of which occupies me 
many days: while, in the scarcity of clergy which is, and must be 
felt here, I feel myself bound to preach, in some one or other of 
the churches or stations, no less frequently than when I was in 
England. 

All this, when one is stationary at Calcutta, may be done, in- 
deed, without difficulty; but my journeys threw me sadly into 
arrears ; and you may easily believe, therefore, not only that I am 
obliged to let slip many opportunities of writing to my friends at 
home, but that my leisure for study amounts to little or nothing, 
and that even the native languages, in winch it has been my earnest 
desire to perfect myself, I am compelled to acquire very slowly, 
and by conversation more than by reading. With all this, how- 



312 



CORRESPONDENCE. ' 



ever, in spite of the many disadvantages of climate and banishment, 
I am bound to confess that I like both my employments and my 
present country. The work is as much as I can do, and more 
than, I fear, I can do well ; but a great deal of it is of a very inter- 
esting nature, and India itself 1 find so full of natural beauties and 
relics of ancient art, and there are so many curious topics of 
enquiry or speculation connected with the history and character 
of its inhabitants, their future fortunes, and the policy of Great 
Britain concerning them, that in every ride which I have taken, 
and in every wilderness in which my tent has been pitched, I 
have as yet found enough to keep my mind from sinking into the 
languor and apathy which have been regarded as natural to a 
tropical climate. 

To my preservation thus far from such a result, a tendency to 
which I certainly see in many of my friends, it is probable that 
the frequent change of scene, and the necessity of daily bodily 
exercise and even fatigue, to which I have been for the last ten 
months habituated, have much contributed. Indeed Sir John 
Malcolm foretold that I should be highly pleased with my first 
visitation, though he warned me also that I should find it an inex- 
pressibly wearisome duty to march over the same immense extent 
of ground, visiting the same places a second and a third time. Of 
this, however, I am content to run the risk, and I look forwards 
to my future journeys with any thing but a gloomy anticipation, 
since I hope that in them I shall be accompanied by my wife and 
children.- 

* * * * v * 

***** 

During a great part of the year the climate is sufficiently disa- 
greeable ; it is by no means pleasant to be kept a close prisoner 
to the house from soon after sunrise to a little before sunset, at the 
peril of a fever, or of a stroke of the sun, if one ventures to brave 
his terrors. It is a poor comfort to a person suffering, as I am at 
this moment, under what is called prickly-heat, exactly resembling 
the application of red-hot needles to different parts of the body 
and limbs, to be told that this is a sign of health, and that while it 
continues, he is not likely to have the cholera morbus. Nor is it 
comfortable at night, during the rainy season, to have the option 
between utter sleeplessness, if you choose to shut the window, 
and having one's bed, and everything in the room, soaked through 
by the storm beating in if you think fit to leave it open. Nor can 
any comparison be formed between the degrees of fatigue occa- 
sioned by clerical duties in England and India, when I come out 
of the pulpit, as was the case but yesterday, with my lawn sleeves 
as if they had been soaked in water. All these are easy to be 
borne so long as Providence gives health and strength, and many 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



313 



of them are only confined to particular seasons ; and in all seasons 
considerable difference exists in different parts of India. The 
northern stations are, I think, most favoured, enjoying a longer 
continuance of cool weather, an air at all times drier and more 
elastic, and, except during the hot winds, by no means unconge- 
nial to an English constitution. I have been greatly struck with 
the difference in muscle, complexion and apparent strength be- 
tween persons stationed in the upper provinces and those resident 
in Calcutta or Bombay. Yet so. impartial is death in his visits, 
and so much may prudence and good management effect towards 
obviating natural inconveniences, that it is not found that on the 
whole there is greater mortality among the European inha- 
bitants of these last-named cities, than among those of Delhi, 
Meerut and Bareilly. 

Of the people of this country I gave you, if I recollect right, a 

tolerably long account in my last letter. 

# # * * * 

Their anxiety after improvement is exceedingly great, and the 
steps which are now taking, particularly by the government of 
Bombay, to translate useful books, especially mathematical and 
philosophical, into their languages, is likely, I hope, to produce 
effects even beyond the civil and secular improvements, which 
is their more immediate object. The labours of our missionaries 
in those parts of India which I have seen, have not as yet pro- 
duced any great or striking show of converts, but they have un- 
doubtedly been as successful as could fairly be expected, consi- 
dering the short time which has elapsed since the attention of 
the English Church was called to this new harvest. In the 
south, the number of native Christians, even without reckoning 
the Syrian and Romish churches, is great, and has been stated to 
me, on the best authority, as between 40,000 and 50,000. And 
I have myself set on foot a new mission among the Puharrees, 
whose different ramifications extend from Rajmahal on the Gan- 
ges, through all Central India to the Deckan and the Arabian 
sea, which already wears a promising appearance, and from 
which I anticipate, perhaps too sanguinely, very great advan- 
tage. 

Many thanks for the interesting details which you have sent 
me of your own pursuits, and of our beloved little flock at Hod- 
net. I rejoice that you have become acquainted with my excel- 
lent and kind-hearted uncle and aunt, whom nobody can know 
without loving and valuing. Your accounts of the poor old peo- 
ple^ have carried me back very forcibly (I hardly know whether 
painfully or agreeably) to some of the happiest davs of my life, 
though I have never had reason to complain of a want of happi- 
ness, and you will much oblige me by remembering me most 



314 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



kindly to some of my best known parishioners. May I also re- 
quest of you to take charge of ten pounds, to distribute next 
Christmas among any of the inhabitants who need it most. 

Believe me, dear Blunt, 

Ever your sincere friend, 

Reginald Calcutta. 

Mrs. Heber desires me to send you her kind regards and good 
wishes. 



TO MRS. HEBER. 

Point de Galle, Sept. 27, 1825= 

Dearest Mother, 

I write from a small port near the southern extremity of Cey- 
lon, where we are waiting for a fair wind, in order to embark for 
Calcutta, and where I am happy to steal the first few moments 
of leisure which have occurred to me for some time, to tell you 
that we are all three well, that we have received good accounts 
of our dear little Harriet, and that we are thus far prosperously 
advanced in our voyage to rejoin her. We left Bombay, where I 
had been detained much longer than I expected, on the 15th of 
last month, and had a favourable voyage to this island, of which 
we have now seen a considerable portion. All which we have 
seen is extremely beautiful, with great variety of mountain, rock, 
and valley, covered from the hill-tops down to the sea with un- 
changing verdure, and, though so much nearer the Line, enjoying 
a cooler and more agreeable temperature than either Bombay or 
Calcutta. Here I have been more than ever reminded of the prints 
and descriptions in Cook's voyages. The whole coast of the island 
is marked by the same features, a high white surf dashing against 
coral rocks, which, by the way, though they sound very roman- 
tically, differ little in appearance from sand-stone ; a thick grove of 
coco-trees, plantains, and bread-fruit, thrusting their roots into the 
very shingles of the beach, and hanging their boughs over the spray : ; 
low thatched cottages scattered among the trees, and narrow ca- 
noes, each cut out of the trunk of a single tree, with an out-rigger 
to keep it steady, and a sail exactly like that used in Otaheite. 
The people, too, who differ both in language and appearance 
from those of Hindostan, are still more like the South Sea island- 
ers, having neither turban nor cap, but their long black hair fast- 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



315 



ened in a knot behind, with a large tortoise-shell comb, and seldom 
any clothing but a cotton cloth round their waist, to which the 
higher ranks add an old-fashioned blue coat, with gold or silver 
lace, and a belt and hanger to match, a fashion which they appa- 
rently received from their Dutch conquerors, and which has a very 
whimsical appearance. The Candians, who inhabit the interior of 
the island, and whose country, as you know, was conquered by the 
English about ten years ago, wear a more shewy dress, and one 
more uniformly Oriental. They are now all tolerably reconciled to 
our government, as well as the Cingalese, or inhabitants of the sea- 
coast, and their chiefs are rapidly acquiring a knowledge of our 
language and imitating our customs. We went up with the gover- 
nor, Sir Edward Barnes, who as well as lady Barnes have shewn 
us much attention and kindness, to Candy, where I preached, ad- 
ministered the Sacrament, and confirmed twenty-six young people 
in the audience-hall of the late King of Candy, which now serves 
as a Church. Here, twelve years ago, this man, who was a dread- 
ful tyrant, and lost his throne in consequence of a large party of 
his subjects applying to General Brownrigge for protection, used, 
as we were told, to sit in state to see those whom he had con- 
demned trodden to death, and tortured by elephants trained for 
the purpose. Here he actually compelled by torments, the wife of 
one of his prime ministers, whom he suspected of plotting against 
him, to bruise with her own hands two of her children to death 
with a pestle and large mortar, before he put her to death also ; 
and here at that time no Englishman or Christian could have ap- 
peared except as a slave, or at the risk of being murdered with 
every circumstance of cruelty. And now in this very place an 
English governor and an English congregation, besides many con- 
verted natives of the island, were sitting peaceably to hear an En- 
glish Bishop preach ! Christianity has made perhaps a greater 
progress in this island than in all India besides. The Dutch, while 
they governed the country, took great pains to spread it, and the 
black preachers whom they left behind, and who are still paid by 
the English government, shew a very great reverence for our 
Common Prayer, which is translated into their language, and a 
strong desire to be admitted Members of the Church of England. 
One excellent man, named Christian David, I ordained last year 
in Calcutta, and there are several more in training. There are 
also some very meritorious missionaries in the island. One of 
them is the son of our neighbour, Mr. Mayor, of Shawbury, who, 
together with another Shropshire man, Mr. Ward, has got together 
a very respectable congregation of natives, as well as a large 
school, and built a pretty church, which I consecrated last Sunday, 
in one of the wildest and most beautiful situations I ever saw. 
The effects of these exertions have been very happv, both among 
Vol. II.— 40 



316 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



the Roman Catholic descendants of the Portuguese* and the hea- 
then. I have confirmed, since I came into the island, 360 per- 
sons, of whom only sixty were English, and in the great Church 
at Colombo, I pronounced the blessing in four different languages, 
English, Portuguese, Cingalese, and Tamul. 

Those who are still heathen, are professedly worshippers of 
Buddh,* but by far the greater part reverence nothing except the 
Devil, to whom they offer sacrifices by night, that he may do 
them no harm. Many of the nominal Christians are infected with 
the same superstition, and are therefore not acknowledged by our 
missionaries, otherwise instead of 300 to be confirmed, I might 
have had several thousand candidates. Manv thanks for the kind 
trouble you took to get subscriptions for the female schools at 
Calcutta. I hope we shall be able to raise nearly money enough 
for them in India. On the whole I rejoice to believe that, in very 
many parts of this great country, "the fields are white already to 
harvest," and it is a circumstance of great comfort to me, that in 
all the good which is done, the Church of England seems to take 
the lead, that our Liturgy has been translated into the five lan- 
guages most used in these parts of the world, and that all Christian 
sects in the East seem more and more disposed to hold it in rev- 
erence. Still little, very little is done in comparison with all 
which is to do. 

Ever your affectionate son, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO THE REV. J^HN MAYOR, VICAR OF SHAWBURY, IN 

SHROPSHIRE. 

Galle, September 28, 1825. 

My dear Sir, 

I seize a few moments of the first leisure which I have had for 
a long time, while waiting a change of wind to enable our ship 
to leave this harbour for Calcutta, to give you some account of 
those most dear to you in this island. I arrived at this port five 
weeks ago, in visiting the different parts of my great diocese; and 
had the pleasure to be greeted, among those who first came off to 

* The Moodelier of Candy, G. P. G. De Sarum, gave the Bishop a Sermon 
in the Pali language and Cingalese character, said to have been written by 
Buddh himself, being one of 17575 he preached in his way between Rajmaha- 
noora and Nalundranoora, concerning the state of absorption into the Deity. Ec 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



317 



our vessel, by jour son Robert, looking stout and well, and very 
little altered from what he was when' I last saw him in England. 
He remained on board the greater part of the day ; but the fatigue 
which we had all to undergo, before we got on shore, the sea be- 
ing stormy, and our vessel in a bad situation, unfortunately brought 
on an attack of fever, which prevented his accompanying us, as 
was his first intention, to Colombo, His disorder since has com- 
pletely left him; 

Mrs. Heber and I had the pleasure, on our return from the north, 
of passing the best part of three days with him and Mrs. Mayor, 
in their romantic abode at Baddagame; where we also found his 
colleague, Mr. Ward, with his wife and family, in perfect health 
and contented cheerfulness. I consecrated their Church, which 
is really an extraordinay building, considering the place in which, 
and the circumstances under which it has been erected ; and I 
had also the happiness of administering Confirmation and the 
Lord's Supper to a small but promising band of their converts 
and usual hearers ; and I can truly say, both for my wife and my- 
self, that we have never paid a visit which has interested and im- 
pressed us more agreeably, from the good sense, good taste, and 
right feeling, the concord, zeal, and orderly and industrious piety 
which appeared to pervade both families and every part of their 
establishment. Both of them are, in fact, all which you or I 
could wish them — active, zealous, well-informed, and orderly 
Clergymen — devoted to the instruction and help of their Heathen 
neighbours — both enjoying a favourable report, I think I may say 
without exception, from the Governor, public functionaries, and, 
in general, from all the English in the Colony whom I have heard 
speak of them. 

The cause of Christianity is, I hope, going on well here. There 
is, among the Cingalese and Tamul population, a very large pro- 
portion of nominal Christians ; who, although unhappily they are 
only nominal, because their fathers were so before them, or be- 
cause the profession is creditable, and though too many of them 
still pay their superstitious homage to Buddha and to the Evil 
Principle, have, notwithstanding, fewer external difficulties to 
contend with, in embracing the true faith, than fall to the share 
of the poor Hindoos. Among these, and in part among the pro- 
fessed Pagans, I am rejoiced to find that conversions are going on, 
if not very rapidly, yet steadily; and that the rising generation 
afford excellent hopes of repaying richly, and even in our own 
time, the labours of the good men who have given up parents, 
and friends, and country in their service. I have had myself the 
pleasure of confirming in this place, Candy, and Colombo, three 
hundred natives of the island — Portuguese, (that is, descendants 
of Portuguese,) Cingalese, and Malabarians : besides which, had 



318 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



I been able to go to Jaffna, for which the season has too far ad* 
vanced, I am assured that I should have had at least one hundred 
candidates more. In the groat church at Colombo, I had to pro- 
nounce the blessing in four different languages. Surely this should 
encourage our best hopes and best exertions, and should fill us 
with gratitude to God, who has already made u the fields white 
unto the harvest.'" 

It gave me much pleasure to hear from your son of your pro- 
longed good health, and that of your family. The signal for sail- 
ing is given, and I have only time to add my best wishes to them, 
and to beg you to tell our common friends in Shropshire, that I 
often, very often, think of them. I and mine, thank God, are 
perfectly well 

Dear Sir, ever truly yours, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO RICHARD HEBER, ESQ. 

CalctUta^ December 15, 1825. 

Mv dear Brother, 

Your kind letter, which I received in the last month, soon 

after my return from Ceylon, gave me very sincere pleasure. 

* % * * * 

* * * * * 

i have, indeed, been a very bad correspondent, and I fear that 
both my private friends and the different public bodies with which 
I am connected, have all alike some cause to complain of me. 
With regard to these last, however, and more particularly the So- 
ciety for Promoting Christian Knowledge, I really did not suppose 
that they desired to hear from me, unless I had something worth 
communicating, connected with them or their committees, or their 
missions in England ; and as I have not yet visited Madras, where 
only they have any establishments particularly worth speaking of, 
I had not, till since my return to Calcutta, any adequate mo- 
tive for troubling them, or taking up a portion of my own time, 
which I could very ill spare. If, however, they suppose that be- 
cause I have not written them long letters, I have neglected their 
interest here, or that I have paid more attention to any other re- 
ligious society, except that for the Propagation of the Gospel, to 
whom I had a great deal to say, they are most exceedingly mis- 
taken. Their agents and missionaries here, 1 am convinced, will 
bear me witness, that I have worked as hard in their cause, and 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



319 



been as importunate in soliciting subscriptions for them, as any 
body could be ; and in consequence of the ill state of their funds, 
my own subscriptions and donations (besides the share they have 
had of the sum entrusted to me by the Parent Society,) more than 
double those which I, at first, thought it necessary to bestow. As 
to writing letters, it should be borne in mind, that in India all bu- 
siness is transacted by writing. 

t£ 

* * * * * * * 

But I have no wish to plague you any further with my vindi- 
cation. You, 1 am sure will acquit me of intentional disrespect 
towards any body, particularly a society which has done so much 
good to the best of all causes. 

The affairs of the sister Society for the Propagation of the Gos- 
pel have occupied a good deal of my time and thoughts. Bishop's 
College, besides costing two or three times as much in its 
building as it was at first calculated it would, has turned out so 
expensive in the monthly bills and necessary keep of its inmates, 
that all the resources I found were quite inadequate to finish the 
chapel, build the printing-house, or do more than keep the wolf 
from the door. Nor would they have sufficed even for this last 
object, had it not been for the munificent supplies which for these 
three years we have received from the Church Missionary Socie- 
ty, and for the large subscriptions and benefactions which we 
have, within the last eight months, obtained from different parts 
of India. For the present, the institution is doing very well, and 
I have great reason to be pleased with the manner in which it is 
conducted by Mr. Mill, the principal, who is one of the best and 

ablest, as he is decidedly the most learned man in India. 

******* 

******* 

Archdeacon Barnes is every way a great loss ; sensible, unaf- 
fected, and friendly, exceedingly well acquainted with the business 
and interests of the Church in his Archdeaconry, and popular 
with all ranks of people there. Should any thing happen to me, 
there is nobody whom I should so gladly look to as my successor; 
but if he has to wait for the expiration of my term, he will pro- 
bably think twice, even if the situation were offered him, before, 
at fifty years old, he again goes out to India. In spite, however, 
of these labours and drawbacks, and in spite of the far heavier and 
more painful circumstance of separation from home, and my old- 
est and dearest friends, I should be extremely ungrateful if I did 
not speak well of India, and acknowledge myself happy in my 

present situation. 

• * * * * * 

* * * * * 



320 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



The circumstance which I have felt most painfully, was my long 
separation from my wife and children ; a measure, however, which 
my subsequent experience of some of the countries which I had 
to pass through, sufficiently shewed to have been no unnecessary 
sacrifice. In Madras, whither I am going the latter end of next 
month, I yet hope that they may accompany me, but am not cer- 
tain, as it must depend on information which I am collecting. 
Mrs. Middleton made the journey, and though I am compelled to 
go at a later period of the season, and in hotter weather, I have no 
doubt that Emily might go with perfect safety. But for the children 
I am not without apprehensions. At all events, my separation 
from them will, I trust, be far shorter than the last; nor, though I 
hear much of the beauty of the south of Malabar, and look forward 
with great interest to seeing the Syrian Christians, can I think that 
Emily will lose so much of glorious prospect and romantic man- 
ners, as she did by not accompanying me up the crags of Almorah, 
and among the wild and warlike tribes of Malwah. Bombay and 
Ceylon we saw together, and she, as well as I, was greatly de- 
lighted with both, particularly the natural beauties of the latter. 
The former was rendered particularly interesting to us from the 
renewal of my old acquaintance with Archdeacon Barnes, and 
from the terms of intimacy on which we lived with Mr. Elphin- 
stone, the most remarkable man in India for talents, acquirements, 
undeviating good nature and flow of conversation. We were his 
guests for almost three months, and I found something fresh to 
admire or like in him every day. Every body in India does him 
justice, as an excellent man of business, a "grand homme d'etat 

de guerre," a conqueror and a legislator. 

* * * * * 

Ceylon is a noble island in all natural riches, but I have seldom 
seen a country for which man has done so little. The present 
governor, Sir Edward Barnes, is an able and active man, whose 
measures seem to have been well directed for the interest of the 

people, and he has certainly done much for Ceylon. 

% % * * * 

Emily and 1 have -gained much in our Calcutta society by the 
appointments of Sir Charles Grey and Lord Combermere. Grey 
is looking extremely well, and very little altered from what he 
was in England ; he is very popular here; so is also Lord Com- 
bermere, from his constant accessibility, and close attention to 
business, as well as by his good natured and cordial manners. He 
is now, I apprehend, engaged in the siege of Bhurtpoor, unless 
the usurper of that little state has submitted without coming to 
blows. If the war really goes on, and the city falls, Lord Com- 
bermere will add greatly to his own reputation and that of the 
English name, inasmuch as Bhurtpoor is the only fortress, and the 



CORRESPONDENCE. 321 

Jats the only people in India, who boast that they have never 
been subdued either by the Mogul emperors or the English, hav- 
ing, as you are aware, beaten off Lord Lake with great loss, in 
many successive campaigns. I did not see the city, except at a 
distance, but passed through the country, and was very hospitably 
and civilly treated. I thought them a very fine military race, and 
their territory one of the best governed in the north. 

The army under Lord Combermere is considerable, amounting 
to near 25,000 men, with a fine train of artillery; there are only, 

however, about 3000 of these Europeans Should 

he fail, it is unhappily but too true, that all northern and western 
India, every man who owns a sword, and can buy or steal a horse, 
from the Sutlege to the Nerbudda, will be up against us, less from 
disliking us than in the hope of booty. And still more unfortu- 
nately, it is not easy to say where another army can be found to 
meet them, now that Bombay is fully occupied on the side of 
Sindia, and all the strength of British India in Ava. From Ava 
and Arracan the news continues to be bad ; it is but too certain 
that our army is melting away with sickness, to which natives and 
Europeans appear equally liable; and there are various rumours 
as usual in Calcutta yet more gloomy. 

With Emily's best love and good wishes, and my own daily 
prayers for your happiness, and if it pleases God, our prosperous 
meeting again, believe me, dear Heber, 

Ever your affectionate brother, 

Reginald Calcutta. 

The steam-boat, long promised, is at length arrived, after nearly 
a four months 1 passage. People say this is very well for a begin- 
ning, but unless she quickens her pace, most of us will, I think, 
prefer the old conveyances. We often wish it were possible for 
you to pay us a visit here. If you were not fully engaged, India 
is really well worth seeing. 



TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD GRENVILLE. 

Calcutta, Dec. 24, 1825, 

My Lord, 

I have much pleasure in being enabled to forward to your 
Lordship, by the H. C. S. Minerva, what will I hope turn out a 
good collection of the finest Alpine plants in India, together with 



r 



322 CORRESPONDENCE. 

a few others, which, though not strictly coming under this descrip- 
tion, my amiable and able friend Dr. Wallich begs leave to add 
to the list, on account of their beauty and rarity. 1 am bound at 
the same time to express my gratitude to your Lordship for the 
very beautiful poems which I found in Calcutta, on my return 
from my visitation. The privilege of reading and possessing com- 
positions so classical would be valuable any where, but no where 
I think so much as an India, where, though there is really a great 
deal of talent and information of different kinds, there are com- 
paratively few who have acquired or retained any taste for Greek 
and Roman literature. 

Of public news, India at this moment affords but little, though 
much of the most serious importance maybe expected every hour. 
Lord Combermere is besieging Bhurtpoor, with good hopes of 
succeeding, and of thus wiping off the sort of stain which the suc- 
cessful resistance of the Jats on a former occasion is considered 
as having left on the British arms. 

I remain with much respect and regard, 

Your Lordship's faithful and obliged servant, 

Reginald Calcutta, 



TO THE REVEREND DEOCAR SCHMIDT. 
[In answer to his Letter on the ro-ordination of Lutheran Ministers.] 

Calcutta, December 23c?, 1825. 

Reverend and dear Sir, 

The great press of business with which I have had to contend 
ever since my arrival in Calcutta, has prevented my replying to 
your letter of the 1st of November, till after the event occurred 
from which you wished to dissuade me. I can assure you, how- 
ever, that though your arguments have remained unanswered, 
they have been carefully weighed by me, and that, though I have 
concluded by acting differently, I think highly of the talent which 
suggested them. 

I have neither time nor inclination to enter into a controversy 
connected with some of the most important and difficult questions 
in the whole field of polemic divinity. I only wish to convince 
you that I have not been inattentive to your letter, and to set you 
right on some points on which you appear to have misunderstood 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



323 



me in our last conversation. You suppose that I generally admit 
ordination by Presbyters without a Bishop to be valid. I do not 
admit this. All I said is that, when a Christian nation has, by un- 
fortunate circumstances, lost its apostolical succession of Bishops, 
the continuance of Ministers being a thing absolutely needful and 
essential, those good men are not to be censured who perpetuate 
it by the best means in their power. And were I to return to 
Germany, I would again, as before, humbly and thankfully avail 
myself of the preaching and sacramental ordinances of the Lu- 
theran evangelical church, not doubting that they are a true 
church of Christ, and that the Spirit of God is with them as, I 
trust, he is with us also. 

But, though an imperfect ordination may, doubtless, be ac- 
cepted by our Lord and common Master, and though a church, 
under circumstances such as I have described, may remain a true 
church still, it does not follow that, where this supposed deficiency 
may be supplied, it may not be adviseable for a Minister of the 
Gospel either to seek for fresh orders himself, or to counsel others 
to do so. And this may be more especially advisable where his, 
or their, ministerial utility is likely to be much augmented by a 
closer union with a church under (what I conceive to be) the an- 
cient discipline. We (that is, the members of our church) have no 
right or inclination to judge other national churches. But our 
own flocks have a sacred right to be well-satisfied as to the Di- 
vine commission of those whom other spiritual rulers set over 
them. Even where the smallest doubt exists of the perfection of 
the orders received, and their conformity with apostolical prac- 
tice, it may be a part of Christian prudence to choose the safer 
side. And even where this doubt is not felt by ourselves, yet, if 
its existence in others impedes our usefulness, we have the high- 
est possible warrant, in the case of St. Paul and Timothy, for 
condescending, even in a more material point, to the failings and 
prejudices of our brethren. Accordingly, if a preacher ordained 
in the method practised in Germany, foresees a marked advantage 
to Christ's cause in a closer alliance with his episcopalian breth- 
ren, I see not that he dishonors his previous commission by seek- 
ing our prayers and blessing in ine form which we think most 
conformable to God's will. And the humility is, surely, any 
thing but blameable, which stoops, for a time, to even an infe- 
rior degree and inferior duties than those which he has already 
exercise* 1 

For I see no weight in the argument that holy orders cannot be 
repeated without profanation. In the first place, it is a matter of 
doubt whether the first orders were valid or no, and, in the very 
fact of fresh orders being given without a formal renunciation of 
the former, it is plain that the fresh orders are tacitly " sub con» 

Vol. II — 41 



324 CORRESPONDENCE. 

ditione." But, secondly, there is nothing, as I conceive, in the 
nature of ordination which makes it profane to repeat it on just 
grounds, or reasonable scruple on the part of the church or its 
rulers. Ordination stands on a different ground from baptism. 
It is not a new creation, but a solemn devotion of a man to a par- 
ticular office, accompanied by prayer, and, as we believe, an ac- 
cession of the Holy Spirit. But though a man can be only once 
regenerate,, he may be often renewed and quickened by the Holy 
Ghost, and there is no reason, a priori, why he should not receive 
an outward ordination (as he certainly may receive an inward call) 
to a new sphere of action in the church, as well as to a new office 
in it. I do not say that this has ever been the practice of the 
church, though I still think that something very analogous to it 
may be found in Acts xiii. But I say this to shew the difference 
between the two cases of re-baptizing and re-ordaining, and that 
the same risk of profanation does not attach to the last as, I admit ? 
does in every doubtful case to the former. 

Accordingly, I need not remind you that the great body of an- 
cient Christians allowed the validity of baptism, (the matter and 
words being correct) whether conferred by heretics, schismatics, 
or laymen. But though the ancient church never re-baptized, 
they most certainly re-ordained in the case of the Meletian and 
Novatian Clergy, as appears from Theodoret, Eccles. Hist. 1. i. ix. 
and Cone. Nicen. can. 8. 

Still I have no right or desire to judge devout and learned di- 
vines of another national church. If they come to sojourn among 
us, satisfied with the commission which they have received, or if 
they desire our help in their efforts to convert the heathen, I glad- 
ly meet them as Christians and fellow-labourers. I rejoice sin- 
cerely that Christ is made known so widely through their means. 
I gladly admit them, (as I should desire myself to be admitted in 
Germany or Holland,) to the communion of our church, and to 
all that interchange of good- will and good offices (as in the case 
of the Missionary societies of our church,) which is essential to 
our carrying on the Gospel work in concert. But I am not in- 
consistent with these feelings if I think that the difference be- 
tween us, though it should not interrupt our communion, is in it- 
self a misfortune to be remedied. Nor do I feel the less love and 
reverence for their character and talents, when I earnestly wish 
them to become in all points like ourselves, except those sins of 
infirmity of which I am mournfully conscious. 

I remain, dear Sir, 
Your sincere friend and servant in Christ, 

Reginald Calcutta, 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



325 



TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Sandheads, February 5tk, 1826. 

I get this letter ready to send by the pilot, who expects to be 
able to leave us in the course of the morning. We have a beauti- 
ful day and a favourable breeze. The strenuous measures which 
government took to secure my horse a passage have proved abor- 
tive. TFiey were very kindly meant, and I have reason to believe 
that I have to thank for them the zeal of Mr. Lushington, who 
appears to have taken a good deal of trouble on the subject. I 
am now quite well. I cannot help thinking that both my illness 
and yours proceeded, in part, from the agitation of this second sad 
parting. I should have been unworthy of you could I have left 
you without a severe pang. We are both of us, however, in 
God's hands ; and as it is not to please ourselves that we are now 
separated, I have hope in Him that He will bring us together again 
in happiness, and our separation will be much shorter than the last ! 

God bless you, 

Reginald Calcutta. 

I enclose a letter to the Bishop of Oxford, con^ ing the books 
intended for All Souls library, which I will thank you to send by 
the Grenville, as well as the package. 

Our cuddy party is, in a good degree, made up of sick officers 
returning to Europe, miserable spectacles, alas ! from Prome and 
Arracan. I, at first, expected a dull and uninstructive party, but, 
as usual, I found persons from whom I could learn a great deal. 
One officer was one of the first explorers of the Macquarrie river 
in New South Wales, is excessively fond of natural history, and 
has corresponded with Sir Joseph Banks and Humboldt; another 
of our passengers, a young civilian, has visited many parts of 
Kemaoon which I have not seen, and flatters himself that he has 
had a sight of a real unicorn ! 

One of the poor invalids below has died, and there are some 
others very weak and ill, but who will, I trust, recover strength 
as we get out to sea. Mr. Robinson and I take it by turns to read 
prayers to them, and find both them and the ship's company very 
attentive. I have also found the cuddy party not only willing but 
anxious that I should read evening prayers as on board the Gren- 
ville and Discovery. 



326 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



TO HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 

On board the Bassorah Merchant, Bay of Bengal, February 15, 1826. 

My Lord, 

It seems my fate to be able to address your Grace from on board 
ship only. I am now again engaged in my visitation, and hope by 
God's blessing, during the next five or six months, to complete the 
circuit of the southern stations of the presidency of Madras, and 
the Syro-Malobaric Churches in Travancore, besides, if the state 
of the Monsoon allows, paying a short visit to Ceylon. I trust 
again to have the honour of writing to your Grace before the con- 
clusion of my journey, but the immediate cause of my present let- 
ter is to request your directions and assistance in enabling the 
Indian clergy to marry, under certain circumstances, without the 
canonical preliminaries of banns or licence. The custom was 
for the civil servants of the Company to obtain the permission of 
the governor, and for the soldiers to produce a similar written 
licence from their commanding officers, while the few who did not 
fall under one or other of these descriptions were only required, I 
believe, to give a written assurance to the clergyman that they 
knew of no impediment to their legal union. 

For several years back, however, in all marriages of civilians 
of rank, or of commissioned officers, and, generally, wherever 
there was wealth on either side, the supreme courts of judicature 
of Calcutta and Madras, and the Governor of Bombay, have taken 
on themselves to issue marriage licences. Their power to do this 
is very generally questioned, and seems to rest on a very unsound 
foundation, while the fees demanded by their officials are com- 
plained of as a heavy grievance. Still the measure, though at 
first opposed by the Clergy, has been at length generally acqui- 
esced in ; and Bishop Middleton, as I understood, made an in- 
effectual appeal to the Board of Controul, to get the prerogative 
transferred from the Court of Judicature to the Bishop and his 
Surrogates. 

He issued, however, a letter to his Clergy, shortly after his 
arrival, enjoining a more careful adherence than they had for- 
merly shewn to the regular hours of solemnizing marriages, and 
forbidding them strictly to perform the ceremony without either 
banns, or a licence from the usual authorities. And, in conse- 
quence of this order, the Reverend Mr. Goode, chaplain at 
Poonah, having refused to marry a soldier who was under march- 
ing orders, and who could not remain in cantonments a sufficient 
time for the publication of banns, had a long and angry corres- 
pondence with Major-General Sir Lionel Smith, which was re- 
ferred to me a short time before I left Calcutta to embark on my 
present voyage. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 327 



In comparing the Major-General's arguments with the facts 
which he states, and those which have come to my knowledge 
from other quarters, it certainly does appear that the grievance 
complained of is neither imaginary nor trifling. A soldier may be, 
and often is, ordered to march, at a very few days notice, to dis- 
tances where a woman, not being his wife, cannot follow or ac- 
company him, while months, and even years, may elapse without 
his being stationary for three weeks together in a place where 
there is a resident chaplain. 

There are also many stations at which detachments of soldiers 
are fixed, which a chaplain only visits alternate months, or some- 
times four Sundays in the year. Indeed it has been only within 
the last two years, by the great exertion of Archdeacon Barnes 
in Bombay, and by my own influence with the Supreme govern- 
ment, that even this kind of occasional and itinerant service has 
been provided for. But, at such places as these, it is plain that 
banns are impossible or nugatory, while, setting aside the fact 
that the Indian price of a licence is quite beyond the means of a 
soldier, it does not appear that persons in his situation of life, or 
such females as he is likely to marry, are of that " state or 
quality," to which by canon ci. the granting of a marriage 
licence is restricted. 

It must also be born in mind, that these restrictions press with 
more severity on soldiers and the usual dependants on a camp, 
than on any other persons of the same rank in life. Their court- 
ships are, in this country, proverbially short 5 and it is necessary 
that they should be so, since the number of Christian females from 
whom they can choose is very small, while the miseries and dan- 
gers to which an unprotected women is liable in India, are such 
as to make it highly desirable that widows and female orphans 
should remain as short a time unmarried as possible. Nor is it 
possible to become acquainted with the temptations, and almost 
inevitable ruin of body and soul to which an European soldier, 
without a wife, is exposed in India, without feeling the propriety 
of throwing as few obstacles as possible in the way of lawful 
marriage. 

It is a galling circumstance, too, that these restrictions only 
apply to members of the Church of England, and those places 
which have the residence or occasional visits of a clergyman. 
The parties have only to go over to the Church of Rome, and the 
priest will unite them without trouble, and at the shortest notice. 
Where there is no chaplain within a certain distance, the com- 
manding officer does the same. And in the Residencies, where 
there are ministers of the Scottish Church, I have myself known 
a person, who though of that nation, had for several years attend- 
ed our worship without scruple, who bethought himself of his pa- 



328 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



ternal creed out of pure good husbandry, and because his ap- 
proaching marriage could be celebrated with less expense and 
delay than it could be according to the rules of the Church of 
England. Nor are the Clergy of the two rival communions at all 
backward to contrast their liberty in these particulars, with the 
expensive and burdensome restrictions to which the members of 
our Church are subjected. 

The consequence is, as I have stated to your Grace, that, so 
far as soldiers are concerned, the canons and Bishop Middleton's 
injunctions have, in most parts of India, remained a dead letter. 
The chaplains have, nearly without exception, gone on in their 
former course of marrying soldiers and camp-followers on the sim- 
ple certificate of the officers commanding the regiments to which 
they belong. They plead in excuse for this conduct, that a similar 
liberty is used by all his Majesty's military chaplains, when on 
foreign service ; that the marriage-act does not extend to India, 
and the canons are inapplicable, while an attempt to enforce 
them would embroil them with the military officers, on whose 
good-will depends all their comfort, and much of their usefulness, 
at the same time, that it would act as a direct encouragement to 
vice, and produce much inconvenience and misery to many help- 
less individuals. 

Your Grace will have already perceived that I regard their 
case as a strong one, and I trust that I shall not be thought to 
have gone too far in my compliance to the necessities of the coun- 
try in the following rules, which 1 have forwarded through the 
Archdeacon for the provisional guidance of the Clergy, till your 
Grace's further directions could be obtained, for which I at the 
same time stated my purpose of applying. 

The first rule permits Chaplains to " celebrate the marriages 
of military persons, soldiers, female followers of the camp, sut- 
tlers, and others subject to martial law, under the rank of com- 
missioned officers, without banns or licence, and by virtue of a 
written permission signed by the commanding officer of the sta- 
tion, garrison, or detachment, to which such soldier or military 
person belongs." The second provides, that " such permission 
must be presented to the officiating clergyman at least two days 
before the celebration of the marriage, unless, for some urgent 
cause, he may see fit to be satisfied with a shorter notice." The 
third directs the clergyman, " if any doubts arise as to the pro- 
priety of the connexion, to make enquiry without delay, both per- 
sonally from the parties, and otherwise ; and should it appear to 
him that any lawful impediment exists, to suspend the ceremony 
till farther satisfaction, reporting the same immediately to the 
Commanding Officer, and, if need be, to the Archdeacon and the 
Bishop." 



6 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



329 



Your Grace will observe that I have directed the Clergy to 
receive the certificate of permission not (as now) from the Com- 
manding Officers of regiments, but from the Commandant of the 
station, garrison, or detachment. My reason is, that this last is the 
.usual person whom the chaplain has to consult, and from whom 
he receives communications connected with the military part of 
his flock, and that 1 have found it desirable that, so far as can be 
done, all other military officers should be prevented from inter- 
fering on any ground with the chaplain in the performance of his 
duties. And it is also probable that in any difficulty which may 
arise as to the marriage of a soldier, the Commandant of the sta- 
tion will be more free from undue bias, and more open to the 
chaplain's objections. I have also thought it necessary to assign 
some period for the previous notice, in order to give the chaplain 
time for seeing the parties, and making any enquiries which may 
be necessary. 

With the same view of publicity I have suggested to his Ex- 
cellency, the Commander-in-Chief, the propriety of having the 
names of all soldiers or military persons, intending to marry, in- 
serted in the orderly-book of their regiment or detachment, and 
read at the head of companies, at least four days before the cele- 
bration of the ceremony. That the permission to marry shall 
proceed from the officer commanding the regiment or detach- 
ment, in the first instance, and having received the signature of 
the officer commanding the station, <fec. be forwarded by him to 
the chaplain, and that both these officers be especially desired to 
make due enquiries as to the fitness of the union, and, more particu- 
larly, their age, condition, &c. 

The measure which I have yet ventured on relates to military 
persons only beneath the rank of officers, inasmuch as the incon- 
veniences which they suffered were the greatest, and they were 
the only description of persons from whom I had a direct com- 
plaint ; while I was sensible that any thing which should extend 
further would be likely to produce a jealousy in the supreme 
courts, and might possibly (from its consequences with property, 
inheritance, &c.) lead to consequences which I was myself una- 
ble to foresee. 

Your Grace will not fail, however, to observe, that there are 
many subaltern officers to whom the payment of so high licence 
fees may be very inconvenient, while the publication of their 
banns is liable to the same difficulties as those of the soldier. 
And there are very many persons in India, engaged in civil or 
commercial pursuits, in whose case the publication of banns 
is quite nugatory, while their means and rank in life are by 
no means such as to make a licence procurable or even proper. 

There are many thousand families of what are called the 44 half 



330 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



caste," or "country-born," scattered up and down India, engaged 
in the cultivation of indigo, or employed in the different studs, 
farms, silk manufactories, &c. which the government have estab- 
lished in their territories. A Christian of this description may 
be resident (where there are many such) in an humble sphere of 
life at Etawah, or Mynpooree, in the DooaK If he desires to 
marry a female of his own degree, he must now, if the canons be 
complied with, go to keep a residence at Agra, where the near- 
est chaplain resides, a distance of seventy miles from his home 
and property, in order that his banns may be published. Now, 
not to mention that such an absence from home would be ruin- 
ous, perhaps, in more ways than one, to both the parties, it is plain 
that the publication of banns so far from his own neighbourhood, 
and in a place where his face, and perhaps his name, is unknown, 
could answer no good purpose. On the other hand, if he prefers 
a licence, he must get two householders in Calcutta, a city which 
he has never seen, and from which he is distant eight hundred 
miles, to make oath, and enter into a bond, that he and his intend- 
ed wife are of full age, and that there is no impediment to their 
union, and he is to pay high fees for an instrument, the issuers of 
which can know nothing of him or his connexions. 

Accordingly, a man thus situated, either goes to the nearest 
station for merely the day of marriage, having the banns publish- 
ed in his absence, and pro forma, or watches the opportunity of 
some Chaplain passing through his neighbourhood, in which case 
he endeavours, generally with success, to persuade him to marry 
him without either banns or licence, though never (as I am as- 
sured) without enquiry ; or he has recourse to some of the neigh- 
bouring Priests, who ask no questions at all, or to the lay Magis- 
trates, among whom there are many who feel a great reluctance, 
and some who display a very unfortunate facility in undertaking 
not only this, but other ecclesiastical functions. 

I once was inclined to suggest as a remedy for these mischiefs, 
the appointment of a sufficient number of Surrogates. To this, 
however, there are, in the present state of India, many^objections. 
If these Surrogates were appointed by the Bishop, the legality of 
their licenses would be hotly contested by the Supreme Court, a 
contest in which Bishop Middleton was by no means encouraged 
to embark, and which would very possibly lead to a, painful and 
mischievous disunion between the Bishop and his Majesty's judg- 
es. If the Supreme Court had the appointment, I really do not 
know who they could get to serve the office. The magistrates, 
who are civil servants of the Company, I feel almost persuaded 
would not, inasmuch as great jealousy exists between the King's 
courts and the Adawlut, and the Indian civilians dislike nothing 
so much as being drawn, by any means, into contact with English 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



331 



law and English attorneys. I myself should not wish the Clergy 
to receive commissions from an authority which I am inclined to 
think an usurpation, and I should be still more unwilling to trans- 
fer to them any part of the odium which belongs to the stamp 
duty, and fees of marriage licences. At the same time your Grace 
will observe, that the creation of Surrogates would not meet the 
evil, inasmuch as a large portion of those persons who cannot 
have recourse to banns, are equally precluded by poverty, from 
obtaining a licence. 

Nor if the whole system of Surrogates were carried into its 
fullest extent would any thing be really gained in point of security 
against improper marriages. No end would be gained by making 
some of the Clergy Surrogates, since, scattered as they are over a 
vast extent of country, the applicant for a licence would neither 
know where to go, nor be materially relieved by such a provi- 
sion. If all were invested with this character, it would be merely 
to recognise in each of them the exercise of a discretion which 
each now exercises, and which may be just as well exercised 
without the imposition of an expensive tax and a fee ; or, if this 
character were given to the magistrates, it would only be to re- 
move this discretion from the Clergy to a description of persons 
who, respectable as they many of them are, are by no means so 
well qualified to exercise it. 

Accordingly, I would respectfully submit to your Grace, that 
in all cases where the parties desiring to be married are natives 
of India, or British subjects holding no rank in the service either 
of his Majesty or the honourable East India Company, and where 
their place of residence is thirty miles and upwards from any of 
the three Presidencies, the chaplain or officiating clergyman may 
dispense with banns or licence on receiving a written declaration, 
signed by the parties themselves, and by t\w neighbouring Chris- 
tian householders, that they are of age, and that there is no legal 
impediment to their union, or, if either is under age, then a simi- 
lar declaration from their parents or guardians. These documents 
to be countersigned by the magistrate or magistrates of the district 
or districts to which they respectively belong, with the declara- 
tion that he has no reason to doubt the truth of the accompanying 
statement. The document to be transmitted to the clergyman at 
least twenty days before the celebration of the marriage, and the 
clergyman to be enjoined to use the same precautions in case of 
suspicion as before prescribed in military marriages. 

Such an arrangement, as it would leave to the Supreme Court 
their present hold over all the more wealthy and dignified part of 
the population of these countries, would, I conceive, meet with 
no opposition from them. It would relieve the Clergy from the 
heavy alternative under which they now labour, of either refusing 

Vol. II.— 42 



332 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



marriage where no Christian objection exists, or incurring a sus- 
pension of three years, (if indeed the canons are of force in In- 
dia) and it would do much towards extending and confirming the 
popularity, the influence, and, consequently the usefulness of the 
English Church in these vast countries. On these grounds, and 
speaking the general sentiments of the Indian Clergy, I beg leave 
to express their earnest hope, as well as my own, that your Grace 
will afford us such relief as you may think proper, together with 
directions for our future guidance. I will only add my hope that 
the canons in question, being simply ecclesiastical, and never hav- 
ing received the sanction of parliament, it will not be beyond 
your Grace's power to authorize our omitting observances which, 
useful and proper as they may be at home, are by no means cal- 
culated for the state of society in these colonies. 

The other provisions of canonical hours, of marrying in church, 
when there is one within a reasonable distance, &c. may remain as 
they are now fixed. They used formerly to be much neglected 
in India, but they are now universally recognized, and have many 
obvious advantages, without any material inconvenience. 

Since the despatch of my last letter to your Grace till my em- 
barkation twelve days ago, I have been resident in Calcutta, 
where I had the satisfaction of setting on foot a district commit- 
tee of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, correspond- 
ing to those in Bombay and Ceylon, and of collecting for the im- 
mediate use of Bishop's college, and eventually for the support 
of its schools and missions, a very seasonable supply of about 
15,000 s. rupees, which will, T hope, receive considerable addi- 
tions from the other stations of the Presidency when their respec- 
tive chaplains shall have received and acted on the letters which 
I sent them. The new society received a cordial support from 
the Commander-in-chief, the Chief Justice and Judges, the mem- 
bers of council, and most of the chief functionaries of government, 
both civil and military. Lord Amherst alone, I regret to say, 
though he wished us every success, felt himself precluded by the 
line of policy which he had undertaken to adopt before his arrival 
here, from giving us the same countenance which Mr. Elphin- 
stone and Sir E. Barnes have done. It yet remains to be seen 
what success will attend us at Madras. 

In consequence of this supply, together with that previously 
received from Bombay, and the further helps hoped for from 
England, the college council, now complete by the arrival of the 
two professors, have been encouraged to go on with the internal 
fitting up of the chape), and the erection of the printing-house. 
They are still, however, going on from hand to mouth, and obliged 
to anticipate their resources with a hardiness which necessity only 
justifies. The utility and success of the institution is becoming 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



333 



every day more apparent. I wish that the statutes had held out 
greater encouragement to private benefactors a"hd non-foundation 
students, or that some greater latitude were allowed in these res- 
pects to the college council and the visitor. However there is 
a power reserved of altering and adding to them by the society at 
home, and the necessary expansion will, I have no doubt, eventu- 
ally take place. At present, I think, and the Principal is now of 
the same opinion, that their publication in India (which was ap- 
parently contemplated) would rather do harm than good. Of the 
new Professors I have as yet seen little. For Principal Mill my 
respect and esteem increase the more I know of him. 

I have filled up the Archdeaconry of Bombay, vacant by the 
resignation of my valued friend Dr. G. Barnes, with the Rev. Mr. 
Havvtayne, formerly domestic chaplain to Bishop Middleton. 

I was not so fortunate as to find St. Peter's Church in Fort 
William, or the Bengalee Chapel, of which I wrote in my last 
letter to your Grace, in a sufficiently advanced state to admit of 
consecration. I had the satisfaction, however, of preaching in a 
Church which, though not newly built, was newly appropriated 
to the forms of our episcopal ritual in the late Dutch colony of 
Chinsurah, thirty miles from Calcutta, which T had induced gov 
eminent to place at my disposal, and to which 1 had assigned as 
Pastor the Rev. Mr. Morton, one of the missionaries of the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel. The building is not large, but 
elegant, and I found a numerous and attentive congregation, of 
which the Dutch portion had been long accustomed to the Eng- 
lish language, and acquiesced with much seeming good will in the 
introduction of our Liturgy and the appearance of a pair of lawn 
sleeves. The facility with which their objections were overcome, 
I impute partly to the sound sense and good temper of Principal 
Mill, whom I had charged (while on my visitation) with the manage- 
ment of the affair: partly to the great preponderance of English 
who, even before the colony was transferred to us, had already settled 
there ; and in a great degree also to the amiable and Christian spirit 
displayed by the Rev. M. La Croix, a Dutch missionary who had 
previously occupied the Church, (there being no other chaplain) 
who professed himself not sorry to relinguish a situation in which 
his imperfect knowledge of English was a disadvantage to him for 
the undivided application of his time and talents to the natives, 
and has since been himself a regular attendant on Mr. Morton's 
ministry. To our Church the point was one of much importance. 
As a missionary station Chinsurah is very valuable. The congre- 
gation, already numerous, is likely to increase greatly, and to 
receive a greater and greater proportion of our countrymen, and 
had the moment of the transfer been let slip, there were many of 



334 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



the sectaries who would have eagerly offered their services to 
government, and were likely enough to have fixed themselves 
there permanently. 3 mention this to your Grace, because one 
of my Clergy, whom it is not necessary to name, thought fit to 
reflect severely on my conduct in removing Mr. Morton from the 
superintendance of the schools supported in the neighbourhood 
of Calcutta by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 

During my residence in Calcutta I held an ordination of Dea- 
cons, and another of Deacons and Priests, hoth attended with 
circumstances with which your Grace should be informed, and 
which I trust will not he uninteresting to you. The subjects of 
hoth were missionaries in the employ of the Church Missionary 
Society. Three of them (Mr. Reichardt, a native of Germany, 
and a young man of very respectable attainments both in the 
classics, divinity, and Hebrew, Mr. Bowley, the son of an Eu- 
ropean, but born in this country, in the language of which he is a 
proficient, and Abdul Musseeh, a venerable old man, a native of 
Lucknow, and an elegant Persian and Hindoostanee scholar) had 
some years ago received Lutheran ordination, and officiated as 
Ministers of the Gospel. They had for some time, however, 
been anxious to obtain what they regarded as a more apostolic 
commission, and Mr. Bowley and Abdul Musseeh had been con- 
firmed in their views by some conversation which I had with 
them at Chunar and Agra in my journey through Northern Hin- 
doostan. Mr. Reichardt appeared to have very carefully studied 
the subject, and they had none of them any discoverable motives 
for their wish but such as reflected honour both on themselves 
and the Church of England. 

With this persuasion, and in consideration of the office which 
they had already filled as preachers of the Gospel, as well as the 
great distance which Abdul Musseeh and Mr. Bowley had tra- 
velled, the former little less than 800 miles to receive the sacred 
rite, I used the same freedom which I had done in the case of 
Christian David, in ordaining them Priests as well as Deacons, 
with the intervention of a month only between the ceremonies. 
Abdul Musseeh not understanding English, the service was trans- 
lated into Hindoostanee by Archdeacon Corrie, under the able 
revision of Principal Mill and my chaplain, Mr. Robinson. Ab- 
dul Musseeh read the Gospel in that language, and greatly im- 
pressed us all, both in that and his answers, with his deep appa- 
rent emotion, his fine voice and elegant pronunciation, as well as 
his majestic countenance and long white beard. 

He has since returned to his flock at Agra, where he has a 
little Christian parish of twenty or thirty families, besides many 
hundred occasional hearers in the neighbouring cities and villages, 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



335 



I also admitted to Deacon's orders, a well deserving and well 
educated young man, named Adlington, a catechist likewise in 
the employ of the Church Missionary Society, on whom I hope to 
confer the Priesthood next autumn. By that time the Rev. Mr. 
Wimberly (one of the Company's chaplains, but as yet a Deacon 
only) will be also qualified to become a candidate. 

I believe I mentioned to your Grace in my last letter the sort 
of amicable intercourse which I had maintained with different 
sects of Oriental Christians, and particularly with some Bishops of 
the Armenian Church. One of these whom I had previously met 
at Dacca , Mar Abraham, a suffragan dependant on the Patriarch 
of Jerusalem, was much with me, and still more, I think, at 
Bishop's college, during my late residence at Calcutta. He, like 
the Syrian Metropolitan, attended service in the cathedral, and 
I was happy to be able on different occasions to treat him 
with respect and hospitality. His sect, (I need not inform your 
Grace) is Monophysite, and the Liturgy of his Church grievously 
crowded with superstitious observances, approaching to those of 
the Roman ritual. They disclaim, however, earnestly, the Pope 
and some of the distinguished tenets of Popery, and both my 
friend Mar Abraham, and some others of his nation, express a great 
admiration of our Liturgy, and a desire (which I think claims all 
the encouragement in our power) to draw near us, and learn from 
us. One of their nation, named George Avdal, has offered his 
services to Bishop's College, to translate our Liturgy i lto Arme- 
nian, to which may be prefixed, if God gives me health and leis- 
ure to finish it, a short account which I am drawing up of the 
foundation, reformation, and history of the English Church, which, 
I am led to believe, may do us great service among the eastern 
Christians, and may be advantageously circulated, not only in 
Armenian, but the other languages of Asia. And if Mr. Avdal 
does his work well, I think of employing him still further in ren- 
dering into that language some of the Homilies of St. Chrysostom, 
and of such other Fathers as the eastern Church hold in most 
honour, but of whom, except by name, they know nothing. By 
such means, duly persevered in, and practised with meekness, 
and without the appearance of dictation or superiority, it may be 
hoped, under the Divine Blessing, that some of the grosser igno- 
rance may be removed, and some of the more crying abuses re- 
formed, which have for many centuries, overspread the most 
ancient and illustrious sects of Christianity. Bishop Abraham 
complained, with much feeling, that almost all the books of devo- 
tion or instruction which the Armenian nation possess, are printed 
at Venice, and in many instances interpolated there ; and he 
seemed extremely well disposed to recommend to his Patriarch a 



336 CORRESPONDENCE. 

plan which I suggested, of obtaining such works in future from 
the press of Bishop's College. It is my purpose to write on this, 
and other similar subjects, to the Societies for the Propagation of 
the Gospel, and promoting Christian Knowledge, and I trust that 
we shall have some assistance from them in carrying these mea- 
sures into execution. 

Bishop Abraham evinced, on leaving Calcutta, his confidence 
in myself and Principal Mill in a yet more remarkable manner, in 
committing to my care, for education at Bishop's College, a very 
pleasing young man, a Deacon of his church, and related to him- 
self, who had attended him from Palestine. He said that the Ar- 
menian church felt the want of a more liberal education than they 
could usually obtain for their clergy ; that, in particular, a know- 
ledge of the English language and literature would be very valua- 
ble to them, and that this young man, who, having good talents, 
and powerful interest, was likely to be called eventually, to a 
conspicuous station in the Church of Jerusalem, was exceeding- 
ly anxious to learn any thing which we might have to teach. He 
professed a willingness to pay, to the best of his power, towards 
the expense of his remaining with us, but, well knowing his po- 
verty, I told him that was needless. I have accordingly arranged 
with the Principal and College Council, to receive " Mesrop 
David" on the same terms of inmate and guest on which Chris- 
tian David, the Tamul clergyman, was received on a former occa- 
sion. They agreed with me that it was an opportunity not to be 
lost, of improving and extending the influence of our Church 
among his countrymen, and should the Society for Promoting 
Christianity in Foreign Parts object to his being supported at the 
college expense, I will most cheerfully take it on myself. 

From Ceylon I have heard actually nothing which can be re- 
garded as authentic, since I last addressed your Grace, and the 
continued silence of the acting Archdeacon, the non-appearance 
of the Tamul and Cingalese teachers expected by the college, and 
the unpleasant reports which have reached me from other quar- 
ters, are calculated to give me much disquietude respecting the 
success of the plans on which I had built so much, and which I 
detailed to your Grace, I fear, with too much exultation. 

At Bombay one of the chaplains, whose conduct and character 
have, on many previous occasions, given me great uneasiness, has 
been attending a conference of American Independent Mission- 
aries, and receiving the sacrament at their hands. Admonition 
from me I have no reason to suppose does him any good, and I 
have found, to my surprise, no provision for the punishment of 
this open and daring schism in any of the canons, nor in any of 
the few books on ecclesiastical law which are within my reach. 



CORRESPONDENCE, 337 

May I request your Grace, at your leisure, to favour me with 
your opinion and instructions on the subject? 

^£ 

I remain, my dear Lord, 

with much respect and regard, 
Your Grace's much obliged and faithful 

Servant and Suffragan, 
Reginald Calcutta. 

I forgot to mention to your Grace that T have heard of the ar- 
rival of the Syrian Metropolitan, Mar Athanasius, in Travancore, 
but that I do not yet know whether his claims have been recognized 
by the Malayalim Church. I wrote him, some time ago, a long 
letter, which was translated for me into Syriac by my friends 
Principal Mill and Mr. Robinson, and Mar Abraham added one 
from himself, which, as coming from an Asiatic and Monophysite, 
is likely, I hope, to have much weight with him. In it he en- 
couraged him to place confidence in the friendly disposition of the 
English Church, and cautioned* him, very earnestly, against the 
arts and encroachments of the See of Rome and its Clergy. 



TO MRS. HEBER. 

Madras, February 27, 1826. 

Dearest Love, 

I have been so much hurried with business, that I have only 
just time to save the dak. I am very well, and established in a 
very comfortable and handsome house which government have 
taken for me. We had, on the whole, an unpleasant, as well as a 
tedious passage. The ship is a fine one, and well manned, and 
the living on board abundant and comfortable, but she w ? as so 
much out of trim, owing to the bad arrangement of her cargo, that 
she could carry very little sail, and leant over on one side so strange- 
ly, that, had bad weather come on, it would have fared hardly with 
us. The captain is altering the arrangements, and I hope, for 
the sake of all concerned, that this may prove sufficient, though, as 
the ship is also leaky, I have some doubts. We had much sick- 
ness on board; one poor man died of cholera, and was committed 
to the sea a few hours before I came on board. A woman I left 
not likely to linger more than a day or two, and for some days 
back had been insensible or nearly so, the victim of long habits of 



338 



CORRESPONDENCE,, 



drunkenness, and unhappily, not at all disposed to profit by the 
advice and prayers of Mr. Robinson and myself. From most of 
the other invalids, however, and from the sailors, we meet with 
great attention and gratitude. A poor little baby died while we 
were on board, and I buried it, the first funeral at sea which I have 
seen. I thought of Southey's " Oliver Newman" when the coffin's 
plunge was heard. 

The mother was one of the ladies on board, a Mrs. S. wife of 
a merchant in Calcutta, going home with her infant, on account 
of her own ill health : her distress was very grievous and affecting, 
particularly to one who was himself a father, and a husband. 
Though almost broken-hearted, she shewed a Christian temper, 
prayed for resignation very earnestly and humbly, and was, I think, 
remarkably supported by God in her own utter weakness and 
helplessness, both during her child's sufferings, which were very 
severe, and after his death. In the former case, she begged me 
earnestly to come and pray for him, which of course I did, and 
did my best to comfort her afterwards. It has ended in my ask- 
ing her to occupy a room in this house during the two or three 
days that the vessel's cargo is shifting, when no sick person could, 
with tolerable comfort remain on *board, and she was not able to 

get a lodging on shore. 

***** 

Of the other passengers, one, a Lieutenant Kenny, is a pleas- 
ing and gentlemanly man, going home in a miserable state, covered 
with ulcers from head to foot, the effect of the Arracan fever. I 
asked him also on shore, but he could not bear going through the 
surf, or even being moved into the boat. 

^ ^ ^£ 

The surf, when I landed, was very moderate to what I expected 
to see, though it would have swamped any boat but those built 
on purpose. I breakfasted this morning with Sir T. Munro ; he 
was very kind, and expressed regret that the want of accommo- 
dation in the government house, prevented his asking me there 
during my stay. In the course of my conversation with him, I 
saw many marks of strong and original talent. I hope to com- 
mence my journey on the 13th. It will be very hot; "but Sir 
Thomas Munro tells me, that if I avoid the Monsoon on the Tra- 
vancore coast, I may perform it safely, and with tolerable comfort. 
Be assured, dearest love, I will take care of myself, and run no 
needless risks. 

Your affectionate 

Reginald Calcutta. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



339 



. TO MRS. R. HEBER. 

Madras, March 7, 1826. 

My dearest Wipe, 

I enclose you a letter from poor Mrs. S., my late fellow-pas- 
senger, which I received the day after she left this house. The 
case she tells is a painful and interesting one, but one which I 
cannot assist, so far as I can perceive ; and there are others who 
have far stronger claims on me, than a deserving young man, of 
whose wife I know very little, and of himself still less. Neverthe- 
less, when I read this account of patient and honourable exertion, 
battling hard with adversity, I could not help feeling very strongly 
my own unworthiness, and how deep a thankfulness I owe to 
God, whose mercy has thus far protected me, and those most dear 
to me, from the state of dependance, privation, and anxiety in 
which so many men, my superiors in many respects, are doomed 
to languish. Heaven grant that I may hereafter make a better 
use of its blessings ! 

I was much pleased to hear that my dear wife had been busy 
in the girls 1 school. You will, I fear, have a great deal of trouble 
there ; but I am sure you will not grudge it. I have been seeing 
the two large schools, the Male and Female Orphan Asylum, in 
which Dr. Bell first displayed his talents for education. The for- 
mer is very flourishing, under the inspection of the senior chaplain, 
Mr. Roy, and both in the progress and health of the boys is supe- 
rior to the free school of Calcutta. The latter is but ill-conducted 
under a country born female, the widow of a missionary, who, 
though a worthy sort of woman, has not talent or energy for her 
|ituation. I have also seen a magnificent display of native schools 
and native converts at Vepery, under the care of two Danes, 
(Dr. Rottler and Dr. Haubroe) sent out by the Society for Pro- 
moting Christian Knowledge. The girls here read better, and hem 
quite as well as those under Mrs. Wilson's care. They are chiefly 
managed by Mrs. Haubroe, a young Dane of Tranquebar, who 
seems an excellent person. 

I hold my confirmation to-morrow, and am promised 500 can- 
didates, of whom about 150 will be Tamul ; my visitation is on 
Friday. 

* # * * # # * 

The chaplains here are a remarkably good and gentlemanly 
set, and I am greatly impressed with reverence for the worthy old 
missionary Dr. Rottler. The weather is very hot, as hot, they 
say, as it is likely to be here ; but I am extremely well. Nobody 
could be kinder or more considerate than both Sir Thomas Mun- 
ro and Mr. Hill have shewn themselves. They have assigned me 
a most comfortable set of tents, — assigned me (what you will be 

Vol. 11—43 



340 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



glad to hear) a surgeon, Mr. Hyne, the deputy assay-master, said 
to be a very clever and agreeable man, and a young officer, Gap- 
tain Harkness, by way of guide, and to command the escort, who 
knows the language and country of Travancore well, besides 
lending me two saddle-horses, and a small stock of plate, my own 
being, as they tell me, insufficient for the numbers of which my 
party will now consist. All this consideration is so much the 
kinder in Sir Thomas Munro, because he is now much occupied 
with domestic distress, Lady Munro being about to return to 
England with one of her children, who is ill. Lady Munro is a 
very lovely woman, and of remarkably pleasing manners ; every 
body here seems *to regret most honestly her going away, saying 
that her whole conduct has been made up of good manners, good 
heart, and sound solid judgment. I do not know that higher 
praise could be given to a " Lady Governess." 

1 set out on Monday, the 13th, via Trichinopoly, &c, to Tra- 
vancore. I shall, I am told, find it very hot, but with care, shall 
run no risk in point of heslth. There are some beautiful churches 
here, the other buildings are less handsome than I expected ; 
the country less green than Bengal, and the climate, at this season 
at least, considerably warmer. Much as I feel your absence, I 
cannot repent of having left you behind. No accommodations 
are to be obtained in the Neelghurry hills, and to take children, 
at this season, through Travancore, every body tells me would 

be madness. 

* # . * * 

Poor Dr. Smith ! I was shocked to hear of his death, and 
grieve for his poor widow. Yes, dearest, I am sure you will shew 
her all kindness. Adieu, dear, dear love ! God bless you and 
our babes. 1 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO MRS. Ft. HEBER, 

damp near Alumbara^ (one day's march from Pondicherry,) 

March 16, 1826. 

I have had little or no time to keep a journal, but was deter- 
mined to make a beginning and now send it to you. 1 am very 
well, and am travelling comfortably through a pretty country, in 
which almost every thing reminds me of Ceylon, (I mean its sea 
coast.) I have excellent tents and horses, and like my fellow tra- 
vellers very well. Sir T e Munro has written to all the collectors 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



341 



on the road, to assist me in every way, (as was done by the gov- 
ernment of Bengal on my former tour,) and has himself taken 
great pains to settle every thing for me beforehand. Captain 
Harkness, the commander of the escort, says he has even direc- 
tions, in case Mr. Hyne should fall ill, to press the first surgeon or 
assistant-surgeon whom he may find, to accompany me as far as 
may be necessary. The weather is about as hot as it was in our 
excursion through Salsette with Mr. Elphinstone. Love to my 
dear little Emily, and kiss her and her sister for their affectionate 
father. 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE C W. WILLIAMS WYNN. 

Camp near Chillumbrum, (Carnatic,) March 21, 1826. 

My dear Wynn, 

* * * ^ * 

* * * • * * 

There were, indeed, several reasons which rendered my pres- 
ence here extremely desirable, and some, which, as being charac- 
teristic of the country, may not be uninteresting to you. You are 
aware of the very considerable number (I believe about 40,000) 
of Protestant Christians in different parts of this Presidency, the 
spiritual children of Schwartz and his successors, and all now in 
union with the Church of England. These people, however, 
Christians as they are, have preserved very many of their ancient 
usages, particularly with regard to caste, which, both here and in 
Ceylon, is preserved with a fierceness of prejudice which I have 
rarely witnessed in Bengal, and which divides almost as perfectly 
a Soodra from a Pariah Christian, as it did the same individuals 
while worshippers of Vishnu and Siva. The old school of mis- 
sionaries tolerated all this as a merely civil question of pedigree 
and worldly distinction, and in the hope that, as their converts be- 
came more enlightened, such distinctions would die away. This 
effect has not followed ; but, on the other hand, some of the 
younger missionaries, both Germans and English, have not only 
warmly preached against caste, but in the management of their 
schools, and the arrangement of their congregations, have thwarted 
it as much as possidle. They have even done more ; having inter- 
fered with many ancient forms which are used by these people 
in their marriage ceremonies and domestic festivities, and which 
they conceive to be Pagan, while one of them has gone so far as, 
by way of punishment, to compel a school-boy of high caste to 



342 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



drink water from the cup of a Pariah. A long complaint of these 
transactions, written in very good English, and with a long row of 
signatures, was sent to me by the Vepery congregation some time 
ago, and I have now many similar statements from different per- 
sons and congregations of the South. The difficulty will be to 
ascertain how far the feeling of caste is really civil, and not religi- 
ous, and how far the other practices objected to are really im- 
moral or idolatrous. On these topics I am now busily making 
inquiry, and hope, in the course of my journey, to come at the 
truth so nearly as to prevent, at least, any gross scandal, without 
intrenching materially on what I conceive the natural liberty of 
the new convert, to live in all indifferent things in the manner 
which he himself prefers, and which his ancestors have preferred 
before him. Both parties have evidently been to blame, and both, 
I have reason to hope, have already receded something in their 
pretensions. The high-caste Indians, for instance, had made one 
most abominable claim to have a separate cup for the Sacrament. 
And the Missionaries appear to me to have displayed a scarcely 
less blameable contempt of the feeling of their flocks, and a sour 
and narrow hatred of every thing like gaiety and amusement,when 
displayed under any other forms than those to which they had 
been themselves accustomed. A certain crown of flowers, used 

in marriages, has been denounced to me as a device of Satan. 
* * * * * 

And a gentleman has just written to complain that the Danish 
Government of Tranquebar will not allow him to excommunicate 
some young persons for wearing masks, and acting, as it appears, 
in a Christmas mummery, or at least, in some private rustic the- 
atricals. If this be heathenish, heaven help the wicked! But I 
hope you will not suspect that I shall lend any countenance to this 
kind of ecclesiastic tyranny, or consent to men's consciences being 
burdened with restrictions so foreign to the cheerful spirit of the 
Gospel. The Protestants, however, are not the only people 
whose differences I have to compose. The Malayalim, or Syro- 
jacobite Churches in Travancore, are also in a flame ; and I am, as 
it appears, to be their umpire. 

You are aware that the intercourse of these Churches with the 
Patriarchs of Antioch, had, for many years back, been interrupt- 
ed, partly by the violent measures pursued by the Portuguese, 
and the intrigues of the missionaries sent out by the Propagan- 
dists, and still more by the poverty of the Christians of Travan- 
core, which disabled them from sending messengers so far, or 
paying the expenses of a foreign Metropolitan. Accordingly, for 
about fifty years, the jacobite bishops of Travancore have been 
all people of the country, and have succeeded each other by a 
sort of domestic nomination, each prelate, soon after his acces- 



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343 



sion to the See, ordaining a coadjutor, "cum spe successionis." 
The present Metropolitan is named Philoxenus, and his coadjutor, 
who, for several years past, has transacted most of the business 
of the diocese, is named Dionysius ; both of them, the former 
particularly, men of high character, both for piety and that sort 
of learning which is to be expected in an eastern monk. Last 
year, however, the publications respecting these people in Eu- 
rope, which, by the way, are said to be marked (Buchanan's 
more particularly) with scandalous exaggeration, appear to have 
become known in Syria, and to have attracted the notice of the 
Patriarch to this remote portion of his flock, and two Syrian 
monks, named Athanasius and Abraham, with the titles of Metro- 
politan and " Ramban," or Arch-deacon, arrived at Bombay 
whilst I was there, on their way to the Malayalim Churches, and 
with regular appointments from the Patriarch, u sitting in the seat 
of Simon Cephas, which is at Antioch." As it has always been 
my endeavour to conciliate and befriend the eastern Christians 
who find their way into India, both I and Archdeacon Barnes 
shewed them all the respect and kindness in our power, and we 
were on as good terms as people could be who had no common 
language, the strangers speaking only Arabic, and all our com- 
munication being filtered through an interpreter. 

They attended Church, unasked, and received the Sacrament 
at my hands ; on which occasion I placed the Metropolitan in my 
own chair, and we embraced in a most brotherlv manner at the 
church door after service. I was not without some fears as to 
the manner in which the new and old metropolitans might ad- 
just their claims, but thought myself bound to furnish Athanasius 
with a small viaticum for the rest of his journey, and with letters 
of recommendation to the English missionaries established at 
Allepee and Cotyam, at the same time that I advertised them, by 
a post letter, of the visitor they had to expect, and gave Atha- 
nasius my best advice as to the moderation with which it would 
become him, under actual circumstances, to advance his claims. 

The missionaries I enjoined most earnestly to take no part, if 
they could possibly, avoid it, in any disputes which might arise, and 
to recognize implicitly, with all due marks of respect and confi- 
dence, whichever Patriarch the majority of the Malayalim Churches 
might receive. How far either party has adhered to my counsels, 
I, as yet, hardly know. The missionaries assert that Athanasius, 
and, still more, his Ramban, have been mere firebrands in the 
country, that they have excommunicated both Metropolitan and 
Coadjutor, and threatened them with personal violence ; have an- 
nulled the orders which they had conferred, dissolved marriages, 
altered the interior of churches, and listened to no advice but that 
of a certain disaffected " Malpan," or Doctor, who was disappoint- 



344 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



ed some years ago in his hope of being named Coadjutor instead 
of Dionysius. On the other hand, Athanasius has written to com- 
plain bitterly of the reception which he has met with from the 
Metropolitans (whom he admits, indeed, " that for their lies and 
sorceries he has cursed from his own mouth, and the mouth of the 
holy Patriarch, and the mouth of the Prince of the Apostles, 
Simon Cephas," &c.) as well as from u the English Priests, of 
whom thou spakest unto me, and the man which is the ruler of the 
land, even Travancore," meaning, I suppose, either the Rannee's 
minister, or the English Resident. At the same time complaint 
has been made to me from other quarters that the missionaries, 
though extremely well-meaning and correct men, have really been 
too much influenced by their natural friendship for the rival Me- 
tropolitan Philoxenus, and I am the more led to apprehend that 
something of this kind has occurred, from the decided tone which 
the Resident and Rannee have assumed, forbidding Athanasius to 
exercise his functions, though acknowledged (as I am assured) by 
the great majority of the people, and threatening to send him 
from the country. This last measure I have got suspended, at 
least till I can myself try my hand at composing the difference, 
or at ascertaining the real wishes of the Malayalim Church, which 
is meanwhile in a perfect flame, but which has expressed, I un- 
derstand, a general desire that the English Bishop should settle 
the question. 

The way in which I propose to do it is by assembling a general 
Synod of their Clergy, in which the claims of the rival Metropo- 
litans and the customs of their Church shall be openly discussed, 
and the votes given by ballot. Vexatious and unfortunate as the 
occasion of such an assembly will be, it will be to myself ex- 
tremely interesting and curious, since by no other means could I 
have hoped to become so intimately acquainted with this most 
ancient and interesting Church, which, corrupt as it is in doctrine, 
and plunged in lamentable ignorance, appears to preserve a closer 
resemblance in its forms and circumstances of society, than any 
other now in existence, to the Christian world in the third and 
fourth century after our Saviour. Meantime I am visiting the 
principal civil and military stations by nearly the same course 
which Bishop Middleton followed in the year 1816, hoping to 
reach Travancore early in May, and to return to Madras by the 
tract which he did not visit, of Mysore, Bungalore, and Arcot. 
The country, as far as I have yet advanced, is (though not gene- 
rally fertile, and almost universally flat) as beautiful as palms, and 
spreading trees, and diligent cultivation can make it, and the an- 
cient Hindoo temples, though inferior in taste to the magnificent 
Mussulman buildings of which I sent you a description from the 
north-west of India, are in size, picturesque effect, and richness of 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



345 



carving, far above any thing which 1 had expected to meet with. 
Here, at Chillumbrum, (a town half way between Cuddalore and 
Tanjore) is a. temple of Siva, covering with its quadrangles, its 
cloisters, its "hall of eleven hundred columns," and the other 
buildings which surround its sanctuary, a space of ground, I am 
persuaded, more than equal to Christ Church, with an establish- 
ment, if its abbot speaks the truth, (who, by the way, strange as 
it may seem, is himself of a low caste) of no fewer than 300 Brah- 
mins. The place, however, which though of comparatively in- 
significant size, has interested me most from the association with 
which it is connected, is Mahabalipoorum, "the city of the great 
Bali," with its ruins lashed by the surf, and the romance of its 

submarine palaces. 

******* 

1 hope some day to find time for a more elaborate and intelli- 
gible view. But, indeed, I do not eat the bread-of idleness in this 
country. Since my arrival at Madras, little more than three weeks 
ago, I have preached eleven times (including my visitation charge) 
have held four public and one private confirmation, visited five 
schools, attended one public meeting, travelled sixty miles in a 
palanqueen, and 140 on horseback, besides a pretty voluminous 
correspondence with government, different missionaries and chap- 
lains, and my Syrian brother Mar Athanasius. And the thermo- 
meter this day stands at ninety-eight in the shade. However I 
continue, thank God, on the whole, to enjoy as good health as I 
ever did in England. Busy as I am, my business is mostly of a 
kind which I like, and which accords with my previous studies. 
The country, the objects, and the people round me, are all of a 
kind to stimulate and repa}^ curiosity more than most others in 
the world ; and though there are, alas ! many moments in the day 
(more particularly now that I am separated from my wife and 
children) in which I feel my exile painfully, I should be very un- 
grateful indeed if I did not own myself happy. Heaven grant that 
1 may not be useless ! When at Calcutta you have added much 
to my comfort by sending Grey there, who, I rejoice to say, is as 
popular as he deserves to be. It happens irow, remarkably, that 
all the three chief justices were my contemporaries at Oxford, 
and that I have always been on terms of friendly intercourse with 

ail, though Grey was the only one with whom I was intimate. 

* ***** * * 

Lord Combermere, during his stay in Calcutta, was a great ac- 
cession to our circle, and I really believe you could have found 
no person better suited to play the very difficult and important 
task which was placed in his hands, from his good sense, his rea- 
diness in despatch of business, and his accessibility, which had 
gone far to gain him the good. will of the Company's army, even 



346 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



before his success at Bhurtpoor He appears at 

present to enjoy a higher reputation than any Commander-in- 
Chief since Lord Cornwallis, or any officer who has appeared in 

India, except Sir A. Wellesley. 

* * * * # 

It is really strange how much importance has been attached to 
the fortress of Bhurtpoor. Even in the Carnatic, Sir Thomas 
Munro tells me, that the native princes would not believe that it 
ever could be taken, or that the Jats were not destined to be the 
rallying point of India, as they certainly are, by the little which 
I saw of them, among its finest races. I regret now I did not visit 
Bhurtpoor. I was within one march, and corresponded with 
the Raja, but was too anxious to reach Jyepoor, to accept his in- 
vitation. 

Sir T. Munro is a man of very considerable talent, and is uni- 
versally respected and esteemed by all whom I have yet heard 
speak of him ; individually, I have received much kindness from 
him. 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO THE REV. CHARLES SHIPLEY. 

Tanjore, March 28, 1826. 

My dear Charles, 

% 3f "}(■ "Jp "JP 

I am again, alas, separated for several months from my dear 
wife and children, having been obliged to undertake the visitation 
of southern India, in a season when it is dangerous for any but 
the robust and hardy to travel. The heat is indeed already con- 
siderable, and must be, ere many weeks are over, much greater. 
I am well, however, and am very closely and interestingly oc- 
cupied in the visitation of the missions under the patronage of the 
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, the success of which, 
since the time of the excellent Schwartz, has been far greater 
than is generally known or supposed in Europe. On Easter-day 
I confirmed seventy, and administered the sacrament to nearly 
200 natives, and in the evening, when the service was in Tamul, 
I pronounced the benediction in that language on above 1300. 
The difference of numbers will be easily accounted for ; since, in 
the former instance, few attended but those who understood a lit- 
tle English, the rest having attended the ministry of one of the 
missionaries early in the morning. This, however, is only in the 
city of Tanjore. There are scattered congregations, to the num- 



CORRESPONDENCE, 



347 



ber of many thousand Protestant Christians, in all the neighbour- 
ing cities and villages ; and the wicker-bound graves, each distin- 
guished by a little cross of cane, of the poor people by the road 
side, are enough to tell even the most careless traveller, that the 
country is, in a great measure, Christian. The missions, however, 
are in a state which requires much help and restoration ; their 
funds, which were considerable, have been sadly dilapidated since 
the time of Schwartz, by the pious men (but quite ignorant of the 
world) who have succeeded him, and though I find great piety 
and good- will, I could wish a little more energy in their proceed- 
ings at present. 

I heartily wish I could stay here a month or six weeks, every 
hour of which time might be usefully and profitably employed. 
My time, however, is very limited, and I must press on to Tra- 
vancore before the south-west monsoon shall have made travelling 

on the Malabar coast impossible. 

* * * * * 

Thence, I hope, after visiting Calicut and Cannanore, to return 
by Seringapatam to Madras, and thence to Calcutta. 

Believe me ever your's affectionately, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



TO R. WILMOT HORTON, ESQ. 

Trichinopoty, April 1, 1826. 

My dear Wilmot, 

***** 
***** 

I have been passing the last four days in the society of a Hin- 
doo Prince, the Rajah of Tanjore, who quotes Fourcroy, Lavoi- 
sier, Linnaeus, and Buffon fluently, has formed a more accurate 
judgment of the poetical merits' of Shakspeare than that so 
felicitously expressed by Lord Byron, and has actually emitted 
English poetry very superior indeed to Rousseau's epitaph on 
Shenstone, at the same time that he is much respected by the 
English officers in his neighbourhood as a real good judge of a 
horse, and a cool, bold, and deadly shot at a tyger. The truth is 
that he is an extraordinary man, who having in early youth re- 
ceived such an education as old Schwartz, the celebrated mis- 
sionary, could give him, has ever since continued, in the midst of 
many disadvantages, to preserve his taste for, and extend his 

Vol. II.— 44 



348 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



knowledge of European literature, while he has never neglected 
the active exercises and frank soldiery bearing which become the 
descendant of the old Maharratta conquerors, and by which only, 
in the present state of things, he has it in his power to gratify the 
prejudices of his people, and prolong his popularity among them. 
Had he lived in the days of Hyder, he would have been a for- 
midable ally or enemy, for he is, by the testimony of all his neigh- 
bourhood, frugal, bold, popular, and insinuating. At present, 
with less power than an English nobleman, he holds his head 
high, and appears contented ; and the print of Buonaparte, which 
hangs in his library, is so neutralized by that of Lord Hastings in 

full costume, that it can do no harm to any body 

To finish the portrait of Maha Raja Sarbojee, I should tell you 
that he is a strong-built and very handsome middle-aged man, 
with eyes and nose like a fine hawk, and very bushy grey mus- 
tachios, generally splendidly dressed, but with no effeminacy of 
ornament, and looking and talking more like a favourable speci- 
men of a French general officer, than any other object of com- 
parison which occurs to me. His son, Raja Sewajee, (so named 
after their great ancestor,) is a pale sickly-looking lad of seven- 
teen, who also speaks English but imperfectly, and on whose ac- 
count his father lamented, with much apparent concern, the im- 
possibility which he found of obtaining any tolerable instruction 
in Tanjore. I was moved at this, and offered to take him in my 
present tour, and afterwards to Calcutta, where he might have 
apartments in my house, and be introduced into good English 
society ; at the same time that I would superintend his studies, 
and procure for him the best masters which India affords. The 
father and son, in different ways, the one catching at the idea with 
great eagerness, the other as if he were afraid to say all he wished, 
seemed both very well pleased with the proposal. Both, however, 
on consulting together, expressed a doubt of the mother's concur- 
rence, and accordingly, next day, I had a very civil message through 
the Resident, that the Rannee had already lost two sons, that 
this survivor was a sickly boy, that she was sure he would not 
come back alive, and it would kill her to part with him, but that 
all the family joined in gratitude, &c. So poor Sewajee must 
chew betel and sit in the zennanah, and pursue the other amuse- 
ments of the common race of Hindoo Princes, till he is gathered 
to those heroic forms who, girded with long swords, with hawks 
on their wrists, and garments like those of the king of spades, 
(whose portrait painter, as I guess, has been retained by this fami- 
ly) adorn the principal room in the palace. Sarbojee, the father, 
has not trusted his own immortality to records like these. He has 
put up a colossal marble statue of himself, by Flaxman, in one of 
his halls of audience, and his figure is introduced on the monument, 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



349 



also by Flaxman, which he has raised in the Mission Church to 
the memory of his tutor Schwartz, as grasping the hand of the dy- 
ing saint, and receiving his blessing.* 

Of Schwartz and his fifty years 1 labour among the heathens, the 
extraordinary influence and popularity which he acquired, both 
with Mussulmans, Hindoos, and contending European govern- 
ments, I need give you no account, except that my idea of him 
has been raised since I came into the south of India. I used to 
suspect that, with many admirable qualities, there was too great 
a mixture of intrigue in his character; that he was too much of a 
political prophet, and that the veneration which the heathen paid 
and still pay him, and which indeed almost regards him as a superior 
being, putting crowns and burning lights before his statue, was pur- 
chased by some unwarrantable compromise with their prejudices. 
I find I was quite mistaken. He was really one of the most ac- 
tive and fearless, as he was one of the most successful missionaries 
who have appeared since the Apostles. To say that he was dis- 
interested in regard to money, is nothing; he was perfectly care- 
less of power, and renown never seemed to affect him, even so 
far as to induce even an outward shew of humility. His temper 
was perfectly simple, open, and cheerful, and in his political nego- 
ciations (employments which he never sought for, but which fell 
in his way) he never pretended to impartiality, but acted as the 
avowed, though, certainly, the successful and judicious agent of 
the orphan prince entrusted to his care, and from attempting 
whose conversion to Christianity he seems to have abstained from 
a feeling of honour. His other converts were between six and 

* The Rev. Mr. Robinson being desirous to see also the Christian congrega- 
tion at Kanandagoody, fifteen miles from Tanjore, and his Highness the Maha 
Raja's Chatteram, went to that place on the 15th April. He was much pleased 
to see a large congregation assembled, and after morning prayers, he gave a kind 
address to the Christians, animating them to be thankful to God for his great 
mercies shewed to them. The chapel at this place is a decent thatched building. 
It is also used as a school. Fifty poor children of the Christians are here sup- 
ported by the bounty of his Highness, but instructed at the expense of the mis- 
sion. The houses of the catechist and schoolmaster, which are also thatched, 
are built near the chapel. From Kanandagoody he went to his Highness's 
Chatteram, which is a Hindoo charitable institution, established by the present 
Maha Raja of Tanjore, not merely for the maintenance of brahmins, but for the 
poor of every description. This charitable institution has saved many hundreds 
from perishing when a severe famine and the cholera prevailed some years ago 
in the Ramuad, Shevagunga, and Madura districts. A circumstance that ren- 
ders this institution worthy of notice is, that there is a charity school attached 
to it, in which children are instructed in the Tamul, Gentoo, Maharatta, San- 
crit, Persian and English languages ; to this must be added the Christian charity 
school at Kanandagoody, above mentioned. There are also two hospitals at- 
tached to the charitable institution, one for men and one for women suffering 
by sickness. A beautiful bungalow is also erected over the Chatteram for the 
accommodation of gentlemen and other Europeans going to the southward or 
coming from thence. — Extract from a letter from the Rev. J. C. Kohloff. Ed. 



350 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



seven thousand, besides those which his predecessors and com- 
panions in the cause had brought over. 

The number is gradually increasing, and there are now in the 
south of India about 200 Protestant congregations, the numbers of 
which have been sometimes vaguely stated at 40,000. I doubt 
whether they reach 15,000, but even this, all things considered, is 
a great number. The Roman Catholics are considerably more 
numerous, but belong to a lower caste of Indian, for even these 
Christians retain many prejudices of caste, and in point of knowl- 
, edge and morality, are said to be extremely inferior. This infe- 
riority, as injuring the general character of the religion, is alleged 
to have occasioned the very unfavourable eye with which all na- 
tive Christians have been regarded in the Madras government. 
If they have not actually been persecuted, they have been " dis- 
qualified, " tolidem verbis, from holding any place or appointment, 
whether civil or military, under the Company's government; and 
that in districts where, while the native princes remained in pow- 
er, Christians were employed without scruple. Nor is this the 
worst ; many peasants have been beaten, by authority of the 
English magistrates, for refusing, on a religious account, to assist 
in drawing the chariots of the idols on festival days ; and it is only 
the present Collector of Tanjore who has withheld the assistance 
of the secular arm from the brahmins on these occasions. The 
consequence is, the brahmins, being limited to voluntary votaries, 
have now often very hard work to speed the ponderous wheels 
of Kali and Siva through the deep lanes of this fertile country. 
This is, however, still the most favoured land of brahminism, and 
the temples are larger and more beautiful than any which I have 
seen in Northern India ; they are also decidedly older, but as to 
their very remote age, I am still incredulous. 

You will have heard, perhaps, from your brother, that I had 
the pleasure of meeting him in Ceylon, That country might be 
one of the happiest, as it is one of the loveliest spots in the uni- 
verse, if some of the old Dutch laws were done away, among 
which, in my judgment, the chief are the monopoly of cinnamon, 
and the compulsory labour of the peasants on the high roads, 
and in other species of corvees. The Candian provinces, where 
neither of these exist, seemed to me the most prosperous parts of 
the country. 

^ % ^ ^ 3£ 

You will perceive from the date and tenor of my letter, that I 
am again on my visitation tour ; again too, I am grieved to say, 
separated from my family. Circumstances had detained me so 
late at Calcutta, that the cool season was quite spent, and it 
would have been tempting Heaven to take them with me, in such 
a journey, at this time of the year. It is indeed intensely hot, 



/ 



CORRESPONDENCE. 35 1 

often from 98 to 100 in the shade; but I could not defer it to 
another year, and I, thank God, continue quite well, though some 
of my companions have suffered, and I have been compelled to 
leave my surgeon behind sick at Tanjore.* My chaplain I fear- 
ed, yesterday, must have remained there also, but he has now ral- 
lied. I am compelled to pass on, in order to get to Travancore, 
where I have much curious discussion before me with the Syrian 
Christians, before the monsoon renders that country impassable. 
This I hope to accomplish, but, meantime, the hot winds are 
growing very oppressive, and must be much worse than they are 
before I reach Quilon. The hospitality, however, of Europeans 
in India, assures me of house-room at all the principal stations, 
so that there are not, I think, above 200 miles over which we 

must trust to the shelter of tents alone. 

* * * * * 

Ever your obliged and affectionate friend, 

Reginald Calcutta. 



In the last letter which the Editor received from the Bishop, is 
the following passage, in closing the volume with which, she feels 
that she discharges a duty equally to him and to those whose 
claims, if he had been spared, he would himself have brought for- 
ward in a more formal and more efficient manner. 

41 Will it be believed, that while the Raja kept his dominions, 
Christians were eligible to all the different offices of state, while 
now, there is an order of government against their being admitted 
to any employment /t Surely we are, in matters of religion, the 
most lukewarm and cowardly people on the face of the earth. I 
mean to make this, and some other things which I have seen, a 
matter of formal representation to all the three governments of 
India, and to the Board of Control.'" 

* Mr. Hyne died of an absess in the liver the 4th of April. — Ed. 

t Extract from Regulations of the Madras Government. 

1816. 

Para 6.— The Zillah judges shall recommend to the Provincial Courts the 
persons whom they may deem fit for the office of District Moonsif ; but no per- 
son shall be authorised to officiate as a District Moonsif, without the previous 
sanction of the Provincial Court, nor unless he be of the Hindoo or Mahommedan 
persuasion. True extract, D. M. — Ed. 



APPENDIX, 



CIRCULAR OF MAR IGNATIUS GEORGIUS, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH, 
TO THE BRITISH AUTHORITIES IN INDIA, RECOMMENDING TO 
THEIR PROTECTION HIS ENVOY, MAR ATHANASIUS. 

TO THE CHIEFS OF THE BRITISH NATION IN HINDOOSTAN. 

From the humble Ignatius Georgius the 4th, by the mercy of 
Almighty God, Patriarch of the throne of Antake (Antioch) the 
apostolic, the holy, over the Syrians and Jacobites of Derah Ze- 
fran, and the rest of the Nast. 




Salutation to the most holy God, the Creator of bodies, and 
the releaser of souls, may this prayer be received for my dear and 
fortunate friends the chiefs of the countries of Hindoostan, the 
pure, the friends of God ; may the blessings of the Almighty be 
bestowed on them, and their families, and descendants, and on 
those who are united with them, through the mediation of our 
Lady the pure Mary, and the whole army of martyrs, and the 
saints. Amen ! 

Further, the cause of writing these lines of friendship and bless- 
ing is, in the first place to enquire after your affairs, and to ac- 
quaint you that I am constantly thinking of you, moreover we 



354 



APPENDIX. 



have sent to wait on you our fortunate children, Viz. Matran 
Abadool Museeha, and the Casis Ishaac, and Casis Abdulahud, 
and Casis Bushara, deputed to our Syrian Jacobite children who 
are with you, and are beneath the shadow of God, and the shadow 
of your power, for the completion of several affairs which are 
wanting. Now, our request of your magnanimity is, that on their 
arrival in your presence you may be pleased to cast a favourable 
eye on them, and recommend them to the care and attention of 
the chiefs of whatever places they may visit, or wherever they 
may dwell, for they are my children, and are unacquainted with 
the customs of that country (India). And, be it known also, that 
what belongs to you belongs to us, what delights us delights you, 
and that which grieves us you are not approving. And, praise be 
to God, the zeal or assistance in matters of religion of your exalt- 
ed-nation, the British, is famous in all parts, more especially with 
respectTto our tribe of Syrians, and this has been the case from 
times of old, but particularly of late our mutual friendship has been 
increased. We beseech God that this may last between us until 
the last day. For these reasons, it is not necessary that we should 
appeal more at length to you, as your wisdom does not require a 
detailed explanation. Whatever protection and support you may 
be pleased to extend to my children is to be carried to the account 
of my weakness ; and that which you have vouchsafed for my 
weakness will be taken into account by our Lord Jesus the 
Mighty, who will reward you on my behalf with innumerable 
blessings of vast and double measure, and we request His grace 
and favour that He may favour you constantly with His holy 
blessings, and may protect you from all trials both ghostly and 
bodily, and may uphold you, and make easy your affairs, and 
grant you your desires, and break the force of your enemies. May 
your souls be strengthened. May your children be protected, and 
may He open the gates of mercy for you, and may He increase 
His favour and blessings, and His gifts on all of you, and may He 
grant you favour and prosperity in both worlds, peace in this 
world and life everlasting. 

Favour me always with news of your condition, and do not 
reprehend us for not having entered your name ; the reason is that 
no correspondence has, as yet, passed between us (we therefore 
know it not.) This letter was proper to be written on account 
of your friendship, after giving you our blessings. 

[Written 29th Tisreen 2d, A. D. 1823. Rubeeoosani 1239, 
Hejree.] 



APPENDIX. 



355 



TO MAR ATHANASIUS. 
[As translated into Syriac by Messrs. Robinson and Mill.] 

Calcutta, December, 1825. 

To the excellent and learned father Mar Athanasius, Bishop 
and Metropolitan of all the Churches of Christ in India, which 
walk after the rule of the Syrians, Mar Reginald, by the grace of 
God, Bishop of Calcutta ; grace, mercy, and peace from God the 
Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 

1 have earnestly desired, beloved brother in the Lord, to hear 
that the Lord hath prospered thy journey from Bombay, and that 
thou farest well, and art in good health in the land of Malabar. (I 
hope that they have rejoiced at thy coming even as they rejoiced 
at the coming of Mar Basilius, Mar Gregorius, and Mar Johan- 
nes.*) And my prayer to God for thee is, that even as He led 
Patriarch Abraham from his country, and from the midst of his 
kindred, through faith, to a strange and distant land, He may even 
thus guide, protect, and prosper thee, and give thee health and 
grace, and every good gift, and increase unto thee the love of thy 
flock, and that the fruits of the Spirit may be multiplied to thee 
from them ; as it is written, " Commit thy way unto the Lord, and 
trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. 1 ' 

Especially I have been desirous to hear from thee of the good 
estate of our brethren, the faithful, in Malabar, the Bishops, pres- 
byters, and deacons; and also of my own children in Christ, the 
English presbyters who sojourn among you at Cattarjam: may 
God reward you according to your kindness towards them, and 
may the brotherly affection between you and them be daily in- 
creased and strengthened ! 

Furthermore, I make known to thy friendship that the desire of 
my heart, and my prayer to the Lord, is, that the holy name of 
Jesus may be yet further known among all nations; and also, that 
all that love the Lord may love one another, to the intent that 
they which are without may behold the unity and peace that is 
among you, and glorify God in the day of visitation. Like as was 
the desire of heart and prayer to God of the blessed Thomas Mid- 
dleton, who fed the Church of Christ in this Episcopate before 
me, whose memory is blessed among the saints of Christ, whether 
they be of the family of England or of India ; but they are not 
two families, but one, which is named after the name of the Lord 

* The last Syrian Bishops, (before Mar Athanasius in 1825,) who went to 
rule the Church in Malabar, in 1751 ; all the Metropolitans after them (called 
Mar Dionysius, or Cyrillus, or Philoxenus severally,) being Indian Bishops of 
their ordaining. 

Vol. II.— -45 



356 



APPENDIX. 



Jesus, who sitteth at the right hand of God, in whom all nations, 
tribes, and languages are united, and shall be glorified together. 

I also pray thee to write me word of the health of thyself and 
all that are with thee, likewise of the health of mv own chil- 
dren, the presbyters of England, and what is their conversation 
among you. 

Furthermore, I hope, if the Lord will, to pass to the cities of 
Madras, Tanjore, and Trichinopoly, visiting the Churches there 
that are subject to me. And I desire, with God^s pleasure, to pass 
on thence to salute thee, my brother, and the churches under thee, 
that I may be filled with joy while I behold your order, and am a 
participator with you in prayers. And if there be any thing more 
which I have not written, it may be told when I come to thee, 
for (the daughter of the voice* is better than the son of the ink ; 
and) it is a good time when a man speaketh face to face with his 
friend. 

This letter is sent unto thee by the hand of a learned and 
faithful English presbyter, John Doran, one of the presbyters from 
before me, who proposeth if thou givest leave, to sojourn in Cot- 
tayam, even as the presbyters Benjamin Bayley, Joseph Fenn, 
and Henry Baker, have sojourned until now with licence of the 
godly Bishops of the Church of Malabar, to teach learning and 
piety to all who thirst after instruction, doing good, and giving no 
cause of offence. And I beseech thee, brother, for my sake, and 
the sake of the Gospel of Christ, that thou wouldest receive him 
as a son and as a faithful servant of our Lord, who is alone, with 
the Holy Ghost, most high in the glory of God the Father; to 
Him, therefore, be all honour and dominion for ever. Amen. 

Moreover I entreat thee, brother, to beware of the emissaries 
of the Bishop of Rome, whose hands have been dipped in the 
blood of the Saints, from whose tyranny our Church in England 
hath been long freed by the blessing of God, and we hope to con- 
tinue in that freedom for ever; of whom are the Metropolitans of 
Goa, the Bishop of Cranganor, and he at Verapoli, who have, in 
time past, done the Indian Church much evil. (T pray that those 
of thy Churches in Malabar! who are yet subject to these men 
may arouse themselves, and be delivered from their hands.) 
Howbeit the Lord desireth not the death of a sinner, but His 
mercies are over all His works, and He is found Of them that 
sought him not. 

Our brother Mar Abraham, a Bishop of the Armenian nation, 
who is sent from his Patriarch at Jerusalem, (may God rescue 

* "The daughter of the voice," in Syrian, means no more than a word. It is 
a very usual expression for it. 

t i. e. All churches of the Syro-Chaldaic ritual, one half of which are under 
the Romish yoke imposed by the Synod of Diamper. 



APPENDIX. 



357 



his holy city from the hands of the Ishmaelites,) salutes thee. He 
also brings a letter which was sent by his hand to thee, from the 
Syrian Patriarch at Jerusalem, and has not found means, hitherto, 
of forwarding it to thee at Malabar, and has therefore requested 
me to send it now to thee. All the Church of Christ that is here 
salute thee. Salute in my name thy brethren Mar Dionysius, and 
Mar Philoxenus,* with the presbyters and deacons. (William 
Mill, and Thomas Robinson, presbyters, that write this epistle, 
in the Lord salute you.) 

The blessing of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be with you 
evermore. Amen. 

(Signed) Reginald, Bishop. 

f By the help of God let this letter go to the region of 
Travancore, to the city of Cottayam, and let it be 
< delivered into the hands of the grave and venerable 
Bishop Mar Athanasius, Metropolitan of the Church 
of Malabar. 



LETTER FROM FATHER ABRAHAM OF JERUSALEM (AN ENVOY 
SENT WITH VISITORIAL POWERS, BY THE ARMENIAN PATRI- 
ARCH OF ARARAT TO THE EASTERN CHURCHES OF THAT NA- 
TION IN INDIA,) TO MAR ATHANASIUS ; SENT WITH BISHOP 
HEBER'S SYRIAC LETTER, BY THE HANDS OF MR. DORAN. 

Jan. 6, 1826. 

Abraham, a servant of Jesus Christ, from the holy see of Je- 
rusalem, (appointed Bishop and Nuncio, on a spiritual visitation to 
the churches of the Armenian nation in the East Indies,) unto 
our beloved brother in the Lord, the Right Rev. Mar Athanasius, 
Metropolitan of the Assyrian nation on the coast of Malabar, and 
to all the communicators in the true religion of Jesus Christ, and 
to all the beloved brethren attached to the church, sendeth greet- 
ing :— 

Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, the Most 
High; and from our blessed Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the inspirer Holy Ghost ! 

I had the gratification to understand from our most beloved 
brother in the Lord, the Right Rev. Reginald, the Lord Bishop 

* The Ex-metropolitan, who resigned the chair to the last Mar Dionysitts, 
and now lives in voluntary retirement at Codangalongery, or Anhur in the 
North. 



Written 
also in 
Tamul. 



358 



APPENDIX, 



of the diocese of India, (over the Christians of the Established 
Church of England,) the good ministry, and adherence to the 
charge committed unto you by your superior, in being overseer 
to the flock of God, for whose redemption's sake Jesus died. 
This hath afforded me the greatest pleasure, and I always render 
my thanks to God for his grace, which is given to good Christian 
ministry by Jesus Christ. Permit me to remind you, ye brethren 
in the Lord, that according to Scripture the last days I see are 
come, when many false prophets and false Chris ts were to have 
risen, who dissemble in sheep's clothing, but in reality are wolves; 
such as some of the followers of the Roman Catholic Church are, 
who try to find access unto the flocks (embodied in the Church 
of Christ,) by the unity of faith and brotherly love, (through the 
triumph of the gospel,) and are bent upon scattering and driving 
them deep into the pit of Satanical transgressions by supersti- 
tion and idolatry; and for the sake of personal ostentation among 
men, they endeavour to bereave and deprive the true believers 
from the glory of God ; wherefore, be ye upon your guards, and 
watch, as the skilful shepherd, which thou art represented, ac- 
cording to the beaten tract of the heavenly good Shepherd ; feed 
and watch with vigilance over the flock of Christ even at the 
cost of blood. The more especially, I say, for the unity of faith 
and doctrine handed down from your ancestors, in union with the 
orthodox Church of Armenia, of which you are members, and 
the Head of us all is Christ blessed for evermore. 

It is rejoicing to observe, that we are in expectation, according 
to the word of the Lord, to witness the end of the heathens, which 
seems to be near at hand through the propagation of the Gospel. 
It is gratifying for me to observe that the most part of India is 
blossomed with the light and cultivation of the diffusion of Scrip- 
ture, through the indefatigable labours of our beloved brother in 
God, the most pious and true preacher of the word of God, our 
amiable friend the Lord Bishop of Calcutta. Moreover, his im- 
partial intercourse with our Church, and his friendly reception of 
us in the English Church, has gladdened us beyond the power of 
the auxiliary, pen and ink, to convey fully my humble sentiments 
on this subject. It is truly rejoicing to see Christianity thus 
strengthened without any distinction to sects and nations ; brother- 
ly love working together ; one Christian with another; wherefore 
it behoves me to hail, that the day of salvation and the accepta- 
ble time is now visible in our age. I avail myself, in so reasona- 
ble a time, to remind you, our beloved brother in the Lord, of 
the ministry thou hast received from God, through the grace of 
the precious Cross : minister thou the word of life unto the be- 
lievers, as well as the unbelievers and heathens, at the station 



APPENDIX, 



359 



where your ministry extends, that thou mayest be enabled to rescue 
the lost from the jaws of Antichrist. It is the bitterness of times 
that needs the sweetness of the Holy Scripture to be diffused, 
that the fruits may prove acceptable to the Almighty. 

Be it known to our worthy brother in the Lord, that, during 
the usual course of my communication with the Holy See of Jeru- 
salem, I had the honour of receiving a letter of blessing and lov- 
ing-kindness from the Right Reverend Father in God, the Arch- 
bishop of the Assyrian Church, at the Holy Land, to your ad- 
dress, which would have afforded me the greatest source of 
pleasure to hand over to you personally, and to partake, myself, 
of the pleasure of your brotherly kindness, and to witness your 
good ministry of the Church and the congregation committed to 
your charge, of which I have heard so happy an account from 
our friend and brother, the Lord Bishop of Calcutta ; but unfor- 
tunately it did not prosper so ; for the ship on board of which I 
was a passenger, did not touch on the coast. However a very 
favourable opportunity occurred since our brother, the Lord 
Bishop of Calcutta, during his conversation, mentioned to me, 
that he was on the point of forwarding you an epistle in the 
Syriac language. I avail myself of that opportunity to deliver to 
him the letter to your address, (above alluded to,) to be enclosed 
in it at the same time, and am much obliged for the brotherly 
love, that he has done so, and trust to God it will reach you in 
safety. 

I had written these few lines in the Armenian language ; but 
thinking perhaps none of my nation might happen to be there, to 
convey my brotherly love and greeting to you ; and none of my 
handful nation here understanding the Syriac language to translate 
it, I have therefore got it transcribed into English, a language 
generally understood all over India ; and I hope you will find some 
one of the station to read it to you. 

I have prepared myself to go on board an Egyptian vessel, 
named Alib Rohonang, towards the Holy Land ; should it please 
God to prosper that the vessel should touch at Allepee, (as I am 
given to understand,) I promise myself the pleasure to send in- 
formation thence to you and the brethren of the Church, and to 
fulfil my heart's desire. 

Our brother, the Lord Bishop of Calcutta, joins me in greet- 
ing you and the brethren of the Gospel of Christ. Both the Ar- 
menian and English Churches of Calcutta salute your Church. 
All the brethren of both our Churches greet you, and greet ye 
one another with a holy kiss. May health and long life attend 
your holy ministry ; and the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and the love of God, and the Communion of the Holy 
Ghost, be with you all. Amen. 



360 



APPENDIX. 



Pray for me, that I may be enabled to prosecute my course to 
the Holy City of Jerusalem. 

The salutation and prayer of me, Abraham, with mine own 
hand. 

Calcutta. 



THE SECOND LETTER TO MAR ATHANASIUS. 

March 22, 1826. 

To the honoured among Bishops, Mar Athanasius, Metropoli- 
tan of the Churches of India which follow the Syrian confession, 
my dear Brother in the Lord Jesus, Reginald, \y Divine permis- 
sion, Bishop of Calcutta, wisheth health, peace, and increase of 
prosperity in this world and the world to come. Amen ! 

This second letter I write unto thee, my Brother beloved in 
the Lord, to let thee know that by God's mercy I have reached 
the country of Madras, whither thy letter, which arrived in Cal- 
cutta after my departure thence, hath been sent after me. I was 
comforted to learn thy safe arrival and good health among the 
churches of thy people ; yet I have much grief and heaviness of 
heart to hear that the enemy hath sown trouble between thee and 
our brethren Philoxenus and Dionysius, which in time past had 
guided and governed the churches of Travancore in their desola- 
tion, when no tidings came from Antioch for many years, and the 
people of the Lord (but for them whom God raised up to feed his 
flock,) had been scattered on the mountains, as sheep having no 
shepherd. Let this, my brother, incline thine heart to shew them 
favour, and may the good spirit of God move them to render 
thee all worthy honour and obedience, both for thine own sake, 
and his that sent thee ! 

Furthermore, I have spoken concerning thy business to the 
Most Excellent Governor of the English nation, which is in the 
city of Madras, who had heard divers things reported against thee ; 
to whom I said, u Athanasius is my brother, and while he sojourn- 
ed in Bombay, appeared himself in all things blameless, and of a 
truth, he brought letters with him from the honoured Father in 
Christ, the patriarch of Antioch ; perhaps the things are not true 
which are reported ; why then should he be sent away from the 
land? And now, behold, I go southward, even to Trichinopoly 
and Quilon ; it may be that I shall reconcile him to his brethren. 
I pray thee write thus much to the queen of Travancore and the 
deputy that dwelleth in Quilon and the governor has written as 



APPENDIX, 



361 



I desired. Wherefore, my honoured brother, when I come into 
your borders, as by the grace of God, I hope in forty days to 
come thither ; my desire is to be allowed to be a maker of peace 
between you, not as having authority, for I am a stranger in your 
Church, neither desire to rule over any but my own people not 
as having wisdom, for I would gladly learn of you in things per- 
taining to the truth, but as your brother in the Lord, and the ser- 
vant of the Churches of Christ ; and as desiring, like Mordecai, to 
speak peace to all the children of God, and to say unto you that 
strive together, as Moses said unto the Israelites, "Sirs, ye are 
brethren, why do ye wrong one to another?" But my council is, 
that all the Malpans and Catanars of the Church, also thou thy- 
self, and the brethren Philoxenus and Dionysius, should come to- 
gether to meet me in one place, even at Cotym, and testify unto 
me concerning the customs of the Church, and all things belong- 
ing to the same ; and that all men may speak their mind freely 
and without fear, I will bring with me learned men, who speak 
both Arabic and the language of the Malayalim, (but who are not 
of the number of the priests sent heretofore for the college of 
Cotym,) and I can hear both what is said, and what thou desirest 
to speak unto me in secret ; and whereas there are some which 
say that Philoxenus is no Bishop, and some which say that he 
was consecrated by laying on of hands and the Holy Ghost, even 
as thou wert, this thing may be enquired of at the mouth of many 
witnesses, and the will of the Church be made known whom they 
choose to obey. And in the mean time, my Brother, forasmuch as 
it hath been said of thee, ' he is a violent man, and seeketh to 
change times and hours let me pray thee to be patient, if in the 
days of darkness and trouble any thing have been done amiss, 
awaiting the time that thy power shall be strengthened, and the 
Lord shall cause all thy ways to prosper. But I speak as unto the 
wise. Thou knowest that the priests of the high places were not 
at once cut off from Israel ; how much less those whom a Bishop 
hath ordained, though in the absence and without leave from An- 
tioch. Likewise, in the days of King David, Zadok and Abia- 
thar, were both high priests in the Tabernacle, though the true 
priest, having Urim and Thummim, was Abiathar, son of Abimi- 
lek, only ; and thus it may be that the anointing shall be on thy 
head, and the government shall be on thy shoulders, and yet the 
place of honour next thee may be given to them that kept the 
flock before thy coming. (But of these things we may discourse 
together when there is opportunity.) And further, ifanymanhave 
wronged thee, speak to me thereof without fear ; am I not thy 
brother ? even if he be of my own people, as far as I have power, 
he shall not go without correction. Salute the Bishops Dionysius 
and Philoxenus in my name. I call them Bishops, forasmuch as 



362 



APPENDIX. 



they have been so reported unto me by divers sure tokens, and I 
trust they may be found Bishops indeed. Salute the Rabban 
Isaac, thy fellow traveller and mine, whom I met at Bombay. 
Salute the Malpans and Catanars. The priests, Thomas Robin- 
son and John Doran, (concerning whom I wrote unto thee,) salute 
you. Verily John was sick at Madras, wherefore my letter was 
not hastened on. Nevertheless, he is now restored, by God's 
blessing, and is with me on my journey. 

The abuna Mar Simeon, the Armenian, who was with us at 
Bombay, and who has been now again with me at Madras, salutes 
you. Grace and peace be with you all, from God and our Lord 
Jesus ! 

If thou hast any thing to write, let thy letter be sent unto me, 
in the city of Palamcottah. 

Written in the land of Coromandel, nigh unto the city of 
Alumbura. 

(Signed) Reginald* Bishop. 



LETTER TO MAR PHILOXENUS. 

Sent March 27, 1826. 

To the honoured among Bishops, Philoxenus, raised up of God 
to be a guide and shepherd to the Churches of India which hold 
the Syrian confession, Reginald, by divine permission, Bishop of 
Calcutta, wisheth health, grace, and much prosperity from God 
and our Lord Jesus. 

I have heard from many witnesses, my brother beloved in the 
Lord, of the works which thou hast wrought, and thy deep tribu- 
lation, and labour of love which hath been shewn towards the 
Church of Christ among the Malayalims, at a time when no tidings 
came from the Church which is at Antioch, and there were many 
dangers and much sorrow without and within, on the right hand 
and on the left, from the idolatrous people and the false brethren. 
Likewise how thou hast made choice of a wise and holy man, 
even the brother Dionysius, to judge the people in thy room, and 
to teach them the pure and certain doctrine of the Lord, and that 
thou hast sealed him to the work by the laying on of hands, to the 
intent that the grace which was given thee might not perish, })ut 
that after thy decease, a witness of the truth might not be wanting 
in Israel, until the time that the Lord of the vineyard shall return 
to reckon with his servants. 

Which thing also was made known to the blessed Father in 



APPENDIX. 



363 



God, Thomas Middleton, who, before my weakness came hither, 
was Bishop of Calcutta and the Churches of the English in India, 
who beheld also your order and the grace of God which was 
among you, and was glad, and spake thereof unto all the chief of 
our nation. Insomuch that in the land of Feringistan, which is 
Chittim, and Ashkenaz, and Gomer, the glory of the Lord was 
made known, not there only, but in Britain also, which is our own 
land; where the blessed Apostle Paul, after he had been in Spain, 
in times past preached the Gospel, even as the Apostle Thomas 
did with you, whose memory is at this day blessed among the 
Churches of India. 

For which cause also, the holy Father in Christ, the Patriarch 
of Antioch, having heard of your love and the truth and patience 
of your brethren, sent our brother Athanasius to carry his letters 
to you, and to testify unto you all the things which were in his 
heart as a faithful Bishop and Evangelist; at whose coming, when 
I heard the same in Bombay, my heart greatly rejoiced, hoping 
that, by communication with him, yourself and your flock might 
be the more established in faith, and that love might increase 
more exceedingly with all knowledge. Whence then is it, my 
brethren, that there are wars and envyings among you? God is 
a God of peace, not of division; a God of order, not of disorder; 
and by all these things the name of Christ is blasphemed among 
the Gentile, and the souls of many shall be turned into perilous 
heresies ; such as are taught by the priests of the Bishop of Rome, 
which are in Cranganore and Verapoli, from whom, in time past, 
great sorrow hath arisen to this people. Let me entreat you then 
my brethren, on Christ's behalf, that you be reconciled one to an- 
other, in honour preferring one another, and each desirous to take 
the lowest room, to the end that ye may reap an exceeding weight 
of glory hereafter. And forasmuch as the people are divided, and 
this man is of Philoxenus, and that followeth after Athanasius, my 
counsel is that the multitude must needs come together, and 
that the priests of the order of Aaron and the holy Levites, which 
are the deacons, be called into one place to declare openly, ac- 
cording to the knowledge given unto them, what hath been the 
custom of your fathers, and whom they will obey as their Bishop 
and faithful Shepherd. Like as it is written, " if thou hast any 
thing against thy brother, tell it unto the Church, and he that will 
not hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and 
a publican. 11 At which time, I also, if it seemeth good unto your 
discretion, will be present with you in Cotym, not as a ruler, for 
I am a stranger among you, nor as a judge, for who am I that I 
should judge any but mine own people ? but as a brother in Christ, 
and a faithful witness of that which shall' be determined, and 
who may plead the cause of your nation with the Queen of 

Vol. II— 46 



364 



APPENDIX. 



Travancore, and with the most excellent Governor whom the 
King of England hath set over his cities in India. And forasmuch 
as it is slanderously reported of thee that thou art no Bishop in- 
deed, let this thing be also enquired into at the mouth of two or 
three witnesses, and let not thy heart be troubled in that I have 
known our brother Athanasius in Bombay; for I have purposed, 
by God's grace, to know no man after the flesh, but to walk in 
these things according to the will of God, and the tradition of the 
Churches, and to speak peace, if it may be so, to both of you, (are 
ye not both brothers?) and to acknowledge him, if difference must 
be made, whom your people shall freely choose to rule over 
them ; and within forty days I trust to be strengthened to come 
unto you. 

Brethren, pray for me ! Salute our brother, Bishop Dionysius, 
in my name, salute the brethren which are with you, the Malpans, 
Catanars, and Deacons, with all others of the Church. Salute our 
brother Athanasius. God grant that ye may be at unity with each 
other. The brethren which are with me, even Thomas Robinson 
(which was in time past known unto the Bishop Dionysius) and 
John Doran salute you. 

Grace, mercy, and peace, be with you and in the Israel of 
God ! Amen. 



COPY OF A LETTER PROM THE REV. THOMAS ROBINSON TO MAR 
IGNATIUS GEORGIUS, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH. 

1826. 

The presbyter, Thomas Robinson, Ramban to the blessed Mar 
Reginald, bishop of the English churches in India, sendeth greet- 
ing and reverence. 

I am not worthy to write unto thy Eminence, forasmuch as 
thy order in the Church of our Lord Jesus is the highest, and 
mine the most humble, yet since God has thought me worthy 
to serve his honoured and blessed servant, Mar Reginald, the 
Bishop of our Church in India, I pray thee to receive my words 
as the words of him who was my master and my brother. The 
rather is it my duty to write to thee, because there were many 
things which were in his heart to say unto thee, and he was 
meditating a letter of peace to thee at the very time when the 
Great Master of all, the Chief Shepherd, called him to his eter- 
nal reward. With thy permission, therefore, I will relate to thy 
wisdom what things he had already done towards thy churches 



APPENDIX. 



365 



in India, and what was farther in his mind to do. It is not un- 
known to thee, most reverend Father, from the information of the 
reverend Legate and Metropolitan of thy churches in Malabar, 
Mar Athanasius, that he met our blessed father, Mar Reginald, at 
Bombay soon after Pentecost, in the last year (1825,) and, as one 
bishop with another, partook of the holy mysteries with him at 
the altar of the English church dedicated to St. Thomas in that 
city. Mar Reginald shewed great affection to Mar Athanasius in 
return for his love to him, and gave him letters to several persons 
of distinction among the English in this country, commending him 
to them as Metropolitan and Supreme Bishop of. the Syrian 
Churches in India. After that time he saw his face no more, but 
he always remembered the brotherly intercourse that was between 
them ; and when he wrote an account of his diocese to the most 
reverend and excellent Mar Carolus, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
and Metropolitan of all the churches of the English nation, he 
made mention therein of Mar Athanasius, and his mission from 
your Eminence, and how, by his means, an end would be put to 
the irregularities that had heretofore prevailed in the church of 
the Apostle Thomas at Malabar. Also, when an English priest, 
Johannes Doran by name, came to him at Calcutta five months 
after, desiring to proceed to Malabar, our blessed Father gave 
him a letter to Mar Athanasius, requesting him to allow him per- 
mission to reside^ among his people, and to receive him as a son 
for his own sake. This letter I have now at length the satisfac- 
tion of sending to the care of your Eminency, and I will now re- 
late from what cause, and in what manner, it was most unfortu- 
nately detained so long from the hands of Mar Athanasius, for our 
blessed Father most earnestly desired it should be delivered with- 
out delay, since it would, in all probability, have prevented his 
departure from the country, and healed the disorders and schisms 
that now so wretchedly divide your Church in India. 

When the priest, Johannes Doran, had gone from Calcutta to 
Madras on his way to the country of Malabar, he heard, for the 
first time, that there were dissensions between the Indian Bishops 
and the Metropolitan from Antioch, and being a stranger, he was 
advised by some persons that he should avoid taking any part in 
such controversies, even such as might seem just to him. There- 
fore, and on account of his health, he remained at Madras for two 
months, till the end of the month of February in this year, when 
Mar Reginald arrived there on his visitation to the southern part 
of his diocese. It gave him great grief to fend that Johannes had 
delayed his progress, although he had given him letters to Mar 
Athanasius, as the head of those churches, in which also he had in- 
cluded another letter written by Abrahim Abuna, a legate from the 
Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, to Mar Athanasius. As soon 



366 APPENDIX. 

as he obtained these letters again from the hands of Johannes, on 
the 4th day of March, he sent them to Travancore, to be deli- 
vered into the Metropolitan's hands. He also sent answers to 
letters he had received from that land, in which he exhorted all 
who were subject to his authority, to reverence the ancient 
* canons and usages of the Syrian Church, and to know him as 
the rightful head and Metropolitan of the faithful Indians in Ma- 
labar, who had been received as such, agreeably to your Emi- 
nency's letters, in a general convocation of the Church sum- 
moned at Cotym on December 29th, 1825, by the Bishop Mar 
Philoxemis. He also expressly and earnestly desired all these 
his children not to interpose the authority of the heathen go- 
vernment in Travancore, as denning any thing in the affairs 
of the Church, but to suffer all things to continue as they were 
from the old time, even since the heathen princes gave the Sy- 
rian churches of Malabar independent privileges, the people 
choosing their ecclesiastical governors according to the rites and 
usages which they held from the day of the blessed Apostle St. 
Thomas to this time, the government allowing their elections, and 
receiving those they elected, while they thus rendered to Caesar 
the things which were Caesar's, and to God the things which were 
God's. And forasmuch as it had been reported to Mar Reginald, 
that Mar Athanasius had acted violently in the Church, depriving 
those that had been formerly accounted bishops, and despising 
the authority of the rulers of the land, our blessed father was very 
careful to enquire into this matter, that he might represent it 
truly to all the deputies of the governors of the English in that 
land. In the meantime, the letter of Mar Athanasius to him, 
written one month before, which had been ignorantly sent to 
Calcutta, was given to him at Madras, and to this letter he sent 
an answer in the Syriac language on the 22d of March, which 
also I now enclose to your Eminency, wherein he assured him of 
his unaltered friendship, exhorted him to mildness and forbear- 
ance till he should come, and, with his permission and good will, 
mediate between him and those in Travancore who supported 
the Indian Bishops, assuring him also that he would not leave un- 
punished those who behaved unjustly or unkindly to him in any 
way. And Mar Reginald acted even as he had wrote, and he 
obtained a promise from the excellent Governor of the English 
at Madras, that he would confirm whatever appointment he 
thought good respecting the peace of the Church in Malabar. 
And your Excellency will see, by his letters to both sides, that he 
intended that Mar Athanasius should be acknowledged as Metro- 
politan by all those who had power, and that the Indian bishops, 
when it should be seen they were truly such, should receive hon- 
our and maintenance as his suffragans. 



APPENDIX. 



367 



In this belief and intention he wrote also a letter of friendship 
and brotherly love to Mar Philoxenus, as one Bishop to another, 
exhorting him to receive Athanasius, as sent by your Eminency, 
to rule them. T send a copy of that letter to your Eminency. 
I beg your Eminency's wise and careful attention to this account, 
and of the truth of it I myself am witness, for I wrote with my 
own hand the two letters to Mar Athanasius, and have been near 
to our blessed father as his Ramban and Secretary during all 
these transactions. Your wisdom will judge from this, with 
what grief and surprise Mar Reginald heard the events that took 
place at the same time at Travancore. These events there is no 
need that I relate, as your Eminency has heard them clearly from 
Mar Athanasius himself ; but the thing which gives most grief to 
the hearts of all who love the memory and rejoiced in the plans 
of our late blessed father in Christ, is that his two letters to Mar 
Athanasius were not received. The first letter which, as I have 
mentioned, was sent on the 4th of March, must have arrived at 
Travancore either on the same day Mar Athanasius was arrested 
by the Divah, and banished the country, or at least the day after ; 
yet the letter was not sent after him to Cochin, where he remain- 
ed many days. Nor was it told to Mar Reginald that his letter had 
not been delivered till many days after it had arrived at Travan- • 
core, and this news not coming to the Bishop till after Easter at 
Tanjore, no remedy was found for the evil, much less was the 
second letter delivered, which was written, as I have mentioned, 
twenty days later than the other. But as soon as Mar Reginald 
heard, as he did in the Passion-week, that the Metropolitan had 
been arrested by order of the heathen Government, he immedi- 
ately wrote a letter to the British Deputy in Travancore Colonel 
Newall, who was then living at some distance in the mountains 
of the north. In that letter he supplicated him to stop all these 
proceedings against Mar Athanasius, to wait for his coming before 
he listened to any accusation against the person bearing the com- 
mission of your Eminency, and recognized in that character, as 
he had no doubt he soon would be, by all of the faithful in Mala- 
bar. He reminded him moreover how infamous it would be to 
the English nation, if we should admit, in any degree, the ac- 
cursed practices which we all condemn in the disciples of the 
corrupt Church of Rome, in their conduct towards the Legates 
from Syria, who came to the ancient Churches, which Divine Pro- 
vidence had now placed under our civil government and protec- 
tion. Our blessed Father Mar Reginald, lived not long after the 
writing of that excellent letter. It was his mind to have followed 
it up by a letter to your Eminency, and by other acts calculated to 
ensure the peace of your Church at Malabar, when it pleased his 



368 



APPENDIX. 



heavenly Father to call him to himself. The letter was, however, 
received by Colonel Newall, who immediately sent orders to the 
Divan of Travancore, to stay all farther proceedings against Mar 
Athanasius, and to authorize his return to the country. That 
letter arriving after the death of Mar Reginald, was opened and 
read by me. But, alas ! the news had already arrived from Tra- 
vancore, that Mar Athanasius had already sailed from Cochin, 
and consequently, that these orders of the Resident came too 
late. It would ill become me, most reverend Father, to obtrude any 
counsel of mine upon your Eminency, in an affair where the peace 
of your Church is so nearly concerned. Suffer me, however, to 
give you what are not mine, but the ideas of my honoured Father 
in the Lord, whose nearest wish after the prosperity of his own 
children, and the extension of the Gospel of the Lord by their 
means, was to preserve the integrity of the Church, subjected to 
your Emineney's rule in the land of Malabar. It appeared, then, 
to Mar Reginald, from very strict and accurate inquiries made 
into the truth of the circumstances, not only from those residentin 
Cotym, but from others also, that when the last prelates (on whom 
be the peace of God,) came from Syria to Malabar, Mar Grego- 
rius of Jerusalem, Mar Basilius Maphiran, and Mar Johannes, 
they encountered the like opposition from the ambition of the In- 
dian Bishop, Mar Thona, and his nephew, that Mar Athanasius 
has to encounter from the ignorance and prejudice of those op- 
posed to him. Nevertheless, as disciples of Him who was lowly 
and meek in heart, and who by His own mouth, and that of His 
holy Apostles, has taught us not to render evil for evil, but to 
overcome evil with good, they, after more than eighteen years 
quarrelling, procured the younger Indian Bishop to be submissive 
to their will, and (Mar Basilius being dead) Mar Gregorius con- 
secrated him, and honoured him with the title of Metropolitan, 
by the name of Dionysius. All this is not unknown to your Emi- 
nency, but besides this, it is also, true that there was a young In- 
dian Priest, who, during all these troubles and contentions, re- 
mained faithful to the just cause of the Syrian Prelates from An- 
tioch. Him, therefore, during these troubles, Mar Basilius had 
consecrated Bishop, by the name of Cyrillus. And it is said also, 
though with what truth I know not certainly, that when Mar 
Gregorius had given the title of Metropolitan to Dionysius, and 
when Mar Dionysius afterwards refused to give him the mainte- 
nance he agreed to give, then Mar Gregorius gave the same title 
of Metropolitan to the aforesaid Cyrillus. However tnjs may 
be, as to his dignity of Metropolitan, or whatever righHnis may 
have conferred upon him, it is the confession of all in Malabar, 
of every party, that he was truly a Bishop by the consecration of 



APPENDIX. 



369 



Mar Basilius. That Cyrillus, as is sufficiently attested, conse- 
crated another Priest before his death, A. D. 1805, by the name 
of Philoxenus, who again, in 1812, consecrated in the same man- 
ner, him who now lives and is called Mar Philoxenus. Now, 
though the title of Metropolitan is wrongly assumed by that 
Prelate, and the others whom he has consecrated, and igno- 
rantly allowed them by the heathen governors of the land, it will 
not be doubtful to your Eminency that they are real Bishops, 
though there were not the number of Prelates present at the con- 
secration which the holy canons ordinarily require. But in a 
barbarous land, where Bishops are very few, where intercourse 
with the see of Antioch was interrupted and difficult, it may seem 
perhaps to your Eminency, as it did to Mar Reginald, that it 
were better for a Bishop before his death to provide successors 
for himself, provided the real form of ordination be duly observed, 
than that the Church should be left entirely destitute of Bishops. 
More especially, when at the demise of the true Metropolitan, 
more than twelve years ago, there was no provision for the con- 
tinuance of lawful pastors among the people of Malabar, unless 
the other successions from Mar Basilius were admitted as 
true, which continued from Cyrillus to those who are now in 
Malabar. It was therefore in our blessed Father's mind f to in- 
treat*your Eminency, and also his right reverend brother Mar Atha- 
nasius, to lay aside all prejudices from the reports of ambitious 
men in India, who often decry in their brethren those things 
which they only desire for themselves, and that you would consult 
in these matters what is conducive to the peace, security, and 
welfare of the Church, not indeed giving place, even for an hour, 
to those prejudiced or wicked brethren who pretend to set up the 
right of the heathen magistrates to name Church Governors, against 
that of the See of Antioch, but not denying even to the gainsaying 
and the prejudiced, that character which is allowed them by the 
nation, if* it should appear on due examination and trial by the 
faithful, the priests, and doctors of Malabar, that the character of 
Bishop does of right belong to them. By these mild means, and 
by inviting a fair and impartial trial of all doubtful matters, the 
peace and order of the Church will be best promoted. Our bre- 
thren and fathers of the English Church all look with the greatest 
interest and affection on the state of the Church of the Apostle St. 
Thomas, in Malabar, all desire earnestly to see it in peace and 
prosperity, and its connexion with Syria unimpaired, and they all 
will hear with sorrow of the violent removal of your Legate from 
this country. I am now engaged, as it is my bounden duty, in giv- 
ing an account of these transactions, with the whole of the wishes 



370 



APPENDIX- 



of our blessed Father concerning them, to our venerable Father 
and Lord Mar Carolus, Primate of England. 

&c. &c. &c. 

Thomas Robinson, 

Priest and Ram ban of Mar Reginald the Blessed. 



EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER TO THE REVEREND WILLIAM ROY, 
SECRETARY TO THE MADRAS DIOCESAN COMMITTEE OF THE 
SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL. 

Tanjore, October 1-9, 1826. 

'fe 

Our dear Father, the late revered Bishop Heber, arrived here 
early on the 25th of March, and on the day following, which was 
Easter Sunday, he preached at the Mission Church in the Little 
Fort a most impressive sermon on Rev. i. 8. "I am he that liveth 
and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore." The pow- 
erful truths that proved the glory of the Saviour, and the most 
affecting arguments to prevail on every one to trust in Hint, and 
to love and honour Him, made a deep impression on the hearts 
of the hearers. His Lordship then administered the Holy Sacra- 
ment to thirty persons of the English, and fifty-seven of the Tamul - 
congregation. A great part of our native congregation, who un- 
derstood Englsih, attended the divine service, and although they 
could not have understood every particular of the learned, yet 
very awakening sermon of his Lordship's, being, however, much 
affected by it, after divine service they unanimously prayed his 
Lordship to grant them a copy of the same ; most condescendingly 
he told them that he would send them a copy of it with some al- 
terations, that they might be able to understand it better. We 
greatly lament that this kind promise cannot now be accomplished ! 

After divine service, his Lordship also signified his intention of 
seeing the Tamul congregation in the evening, and appointed the 
day following for the confirmation of the English and Tamul 
young people who were presented to him after Church. In the 
evening Divine Service was performed in Tamul at the Mission 
Church in the Little Fort. It commenced at half-past six. The 
Church was illuminated by the kindness of our Resident, Captain 
Fyfe. The Liturgy was read by the Rev. Mr. Bahrenbruck, and 
Nullatambi, native priests. The Rev. Dr. Csemmerer preacjied 
on St. John, xi. 25. After the conclusion of the sermon, his 
Lordship pronounced the blessing in Tamul from the altar, cor- 



APPENDIX, 371 

red, and distinct to the great surprise and joy of the whole native 
congregation. 

On Easter Monday, in the forenoon, after the reading of the 
service, twelve young persons of the English, and fifty of the na- 
tive congregation, were confirmed by his Lordship, the former 
in the English and the latter in the Tamul language. The cor- 
rectness with which his Lordship pronounced every word in 
Tamul, was not only striking, but will be always remembered by 
our native Christians as a proof of the apostolic spirit which was 
in him, a proof of his fervent zeal and benevolent disposition to 
promote the eternal welfare, not only of Europeans, but also of 
the poor natives. 

In the evening, after the sermon, his Lordship delivered a most 
affecting address from the altar, to the missionaries and the native 
priests who were present, animating them to zeal and diligence 
in the discharge of their important work, under all trials and diffi- 
culties, according to the example of the holy apostle and of 
Schwartz, the founder of this, and of the Trichinopoly mission. 
The address was delivered near the remains of the venerable 
Schwartz, and thereby rendered more affecting to every one pre- 
sent. It was delivered extempore. It seems his Lordship had no 
thought of delivering this address when he entered the chapel, 
and the thought struck him only at the sight of the number of mis- 
sionaries and native priests whom he saw before him. Although 
it was delivered with remarkable plainness, yet every word of it 
came with power, and went through the heart. Oh how glad 
would I be if I had a copy of that excellent address ! May a mer- 
ciful God help up by his Holy Spirit, that we may always re- 
member and do what has been told us by our dear Father ! 

On the three following days his Lordship spent a great part of 
the forenoon and afternoon in enquiring into the various concerns 
of the Tanjore and Tinnevelly missions, gave necessary directions 
to the missionaries to be observed by them for the good of those 
missions, and had the kindness to signify to them those directions 
in a letter written with his own hand, on Friday the 31st of March, 
the day he left Tranjore for Trichinopoly. Petitions were also 
presented to his Lordship by native priests, catechists, and poor, 
He received them with great condescension, granted the relief so- 
licited for, and promised to do what could not have been done 
immediately. Two of the native teachers at this place were pre- 
sented to his Lordship as fit subjects for being ordained, and were 
approved of by him. 

The Rev. G. Sperschneider, who had been lately on a visit to 
the mission at Trichinopoly, having made mention, among other 
particulars, about eleven young people there who wished to be 
confirmed, I set out for that place in order to present them to his 

Vol. II. — 47 



372 



APPENDIX. 



Lordship for confirmation, and arrived on the 2d of April with 
the Rev. Mr. Schreyvogel. We attended divine service at St. 
John's, and had the happiness of hearing another very impressive 
sermon preached by his Lordship on 1 John v. 6, 7. His Lord- 
ship then let me know, by his chaplain, that as the English and 
Tamul confirmations could not conveniently be performed at the 
same time, he was purposed to confirm the young people of the 
Tamul congregation, early the following morning, at the Mission 
Church in the Fort. In the evening his Lordship confirmed about 
seventy persons of St. John's parish ; and delivered afterwards 
from the pulpit a most affectionate address to the young people 
in particular who were confirmed, to be faithful to their sacred 
engagements, and to watchfulness and prayer. 

Agreeably to his Lordship's desire the Tamul congregation 
assembled very early on Monday morning the 3d of April, at the 
Mission Church in the Fort. His Lordship arrived at sun-rise, 
and after the reading of usual prayers, hs confirmed in Tamul 
eleven young persons of the Trichinopoly mission. The service 
was solemn and affecting, and I sincerely hope that every one of 
those who wereconfirmed by the hands of our late dear Father, were 
deeply impressed with a lively sense of the solemn act performed 
by them. The service was concluded by the blessing pronounced 
by his Lordship in Tamul. 

After service his Lordship took a view of the Mission Church, 
and expressed his regret at the decayed state it was in, and the 
distress of the mission, adding that, after deliberation, he would 
communicate his thoughts for the repair of the Church, and the 
good of the Trichinopoly mission ; he also took a view of the 
English and Tamul schools, and the missionary's house, which 
are all built near the Church. A great part of the Tamul con- 
gregation being still present, his Lordship exhorted them to be 
Christians not only in name, but in reality, to shine as lights be- 
fore the heathen among whom they lived. He promised to send 
them soon a missionary, and wished that God would pour down 
his blessings upon them. He then very kindly took leave of me, 
and returned to the house of Mr. Bird, Circuit Judge. Little 
did I think that that was the last farewell — and never to see him 
again in this world. 

Three hours had hardly elapsed since his Lordship left the 
Church, when a rumour was spread in the Fort that his Lordship 
had been taken dead out of the bath in which he went after his 
return from the Fort. The first notice was brought to me by 
one of the catechists, who came running out of breath, and de- 
livered the mournful news with bitter cries and lamentations. I 
could give no credit to the melancholy report, till it was confirm- 



APPENDIX. 



373 



ed by note from the Rev. Mr. Wright, which informed me that 
our dear Father was no more an inhabitant of this world. 

In the afternoon I called on Mr. Robinson ; we shed our tears 
over the smiling countenance of our late dear departed Father, 
and comforted ourselves with the thoughts of a better world, 
where there will be no sorrow, and where all tears will be wiped 
away. It is mournful, indeed, to reflect upon the sudden and ab- 
rupt manner in which our dear Father was removed from our 
eyes, when we were admiring the Grace of God that appeared 
in him. To himself, however, death was gain. He died like a 
good servant of his Lord, who found him engaged in his proper 
work. But our loss by his departure seems irreparable. We 
have lost a Father, and this is a loss which God can alone make 
up. May He graciously grant that we may not be wholly dis- 
appointed ! 

Early the following morning I attended the funeral of our late 
reverend Father, which was conducted with all the honours due 
to his blessed remains. It was a mournful and afflicting; scene, 
indeed, which I have not witnessed since the death of the vene- 
rable Schwartz. 

On the 9th of April I preached to the Tamul congregation, and 
exhorted the Christians to consider the late mournful event as a 
warning from God to repent, and to shew their gratitude to God 
by a holy life. After the Tamul service I attended Divine Ser- 
vice at St. John's, and heard the excellent sermon preached by 
the Rev. T. Robinson, in memorv of our late Father. It im- 
pressed on, our minds, not only that esteem and veneration due to 
the memory of our late beloved Bishop, but awakened us also to 
endeavour that we may be approved of the Lord when he shall 
be pleased to call us away. 

****** 

I am, with great respect, 
Reverend Sir, 

Your very obedient humble servant, 

J. C. Kohlhoff. 



INDEX* 



A, 

j ■ 

ABRAHAM, MAR, ii. 335-6. 

Abdullah, i. 104; made Jemautdar; 
makes pummels for mules, 388. 

Abdul Musseeh, a convert, i. 475; or- 
dained, ib. ; his death, ib. 

Abel, Dr. Clark, i. 62. 

Ablution, i. 58. 

A boo town, ii. 35. 

Acbar, tomb of, i. 473; his palace, 
474; makes pilgrimage to Ajmere, 
ii. 26. 

Acland, Sir Thomas Dyke, i. 307. 

Adamsonia tree, i. 69. 

Adam, Mr. John, i. 387 ; meets the Bi- 
shop, 404 ; his character, ii. 283-4. 

Adam's peak, ii. 188 ; tradition, ib. 

Adawlut courts, ii. 110; at Kairah, 
» 116 ; beseiged, ib. 

Agra, judge of, sends escort, i. 467; 
ruins of, 473 ; court of justice, 474. 

Ajmere town, ii. 25. 

Allahabad, i. 283 ; buildings, 284 ; con- 
firmation, 285, 

Alligators, i. 63 ; again, 186 ; again, ii. 
197. 

Allypoor village, i. 58. 

Alexander, Colonel, i. 263 ; drives 
the Bishop to a tomb, 267 ; compares 
outward marks of devotion, ib. ; 
Letter to, 268. 

Almorah city, reasons for visiting it, i. 
366; preparations for journey to, 
387; approach to, 401; description 
of, 404; Divine Service, 405; hopes 
respecting Missionaries, ii. 274. 

Ambcra village, ii. 63. 



Amblegodde, bungalow, ii. 171; again, 
199. 

Ambowlee village, ii. 147. 
Ameer Khan, his character, i. 498 ; 
again, 503; horrors inflicted by, 507 ; 
offers to invade Jyepoor, ii. 10; turns 
Saint, 43-4. 
Amroah town, i. 433. 
Amrut Row. i. 247; enquires concern- 
ing Christianity, 258. 
Amherst, Lord, introduction to, i. 56 ; 
his letter to the king of Oude, 318 ; 
anxious for peace, ii. 244. 

, Lady, kindness of, ii. 268. 

Anass river, ii. 78. 
Animal food not forbidden, i. 45. 
Ant-hills, i. 178. 
Antioch, patriarch of, ii. 342. 
Anund Musseeh, i. 294. 
Ape, sacred, i. 169. 
Aqueduct at Lucknow, 445. 
Arab ships, i. 46 ; brig shipwrecked, ii, 
163. 

Architecture, Oriental, ii. 279; ib.; 

antiquities of, 295 ; modern, 296. 
Ariosto, ii. 13. 

Armenians in Dacca, i. 143 ; visit of 
archbishop, 152 ; in Madras, ii. 208, 
Ass from Cape of Good Hope, i. 62; 

from Cutch, ii. 149. 
Assam, custom in, i. 503. 
Athanass, Mr., follows the Bishop, ii, 
31. 

Ava, king of, ii. 244; his demands, ib. 

war with, 245. 
Avdal, Mr. Armenian, ii. 335. 
Aurungzebe, mosque of, i. 254. 
IAzeem Khan, visit to prince, ii. 209. 
Athanasius, Mar, ii. 337. 



376 



INDEX. 



B. 



Babington, Mr. C. R.ii. 162. 

Baboon alarms sentry, ii. 79 ; in Cey 
Ion, 189. 

Baboos, houses of, i. 56. 

Baddagame, ii. 170 ; again 199 ; confir- 
mation, 200 ; departure from, ib. ; ac- 
count of, 317. 

Bahar, people of, i. 190 ; ugly country, 
ii. 270 ; differs from the Dooab, 271. 

Baillie, Mr. Evan Hamilton, at Tan 
nah, ii. 164. 

Bali, city of, the great, ii. 212 ; bas-re 
liefs, ib. 

Bamboos, best in a dry soil, i. 187. 
Bandursindree town, ii. 22. 
Bankes, Mr. W. J., i. 320. 
Bankipoor, i. 214 ; opium warehouses, 
ib. 

Banks of the river falling, i. 129. 
Bansicarra, palace of, ii. 73 ; Rawul 

calls on the bishop, 74 ; description, 

75 ; exchange of presents, ib. 
Banyan-tree, ii. 90 ; one on the Ner 

budda, 130. i 
Baptist missionaries, i. 80 ; minister at 

Dacca, 144 ; at Monghyr, 203 ; again, 

ii. 259. 

Bareilly town, i. 363 ; professional du- 
ties, ib. ; female convert, ib. 

Barley-reaping, ii. 83. 

Barnes, Sir Edward, ii. 173 ; dinner 
with,ib. ; lends his horses, 175; makes 
new roads, 186 ; and tunnel, 194. 

Barnes, Lady, kindness from, ii. 199 ; 
again, 315. 

Barnes, archdeacon, meets the bishop, 
ii. 93 ; accompanies him, 104 ; to Poo- 
nah, 151 ; proposes to resign, 258 ; 
character, 319. 

Baroda, march towards, ii. 94; Guicwar 
of, meets the bishop, 95 ; his charac- 
ter, 98 ; bishop visits him, 99 ; visit 
returned, 102; town and residency, 
95 ; church, 97 ; escort increased, 103. 

Barrackpoor, i. 60; again, 73; again, 
ii. 217 ; mutiny at, 309. 

Barreah, Rajah of, sends kamdar and 
guides, ii. 84 ; visits the bishop, 86 ; 
presents a horse, 87 ; town, 88 ; fa- 
mine, ib. ; misery, ib. ; superstition of 
inhabitants, ib. 

Barodcah village, ii. 72. 

Bassein, pass by, ii. 135 ; ruins, 140 ; 
again, 143. 

Bats, large, i. 49 ; vampire, 65 ; bats, ii. 
220. 

bayaderes, ii. 214. 



Bears, i. 62 ; in Himalaya, 407 ; in Cey- 
lon, ii. 196. 

Bearers, desert, ii. 15; one missing, 77; 
noise they make, 152. 

Beemthal, i. 390 ; excursion to lake, 
391. 

Beggars, i. 123 ; mode of begging, 118; 

blind, 165 ; caste of, 178 ; distribution 

of money to, 327. 
Begumabad, i. 442. 

Begum Sumroo, history of, i. 440; 

written to by the bishop, 442. 
Begum of Delhi, presents from, i. 459. 
Belagary, village, i. 424. 
Belgarum, i. 344. 
Belt of Death, i. 367. 
Benares, Raja of, visits from, i. 259. 
Benares, town, i. 245 ; bulls and beg- 
gars, 250 ; baboo's house, 247 ; pago- 
da, 249 ; not many converts at, 258 ; 
■ quarrel between, 277 ; house tax, 
279 ; '•' dhurna," ib. ; popularity of 
governors, 282 ; stables blown down, 
ii. 255 ; proposal to live at, 277. 
Bengal, not part of Hindoostan, i. 180; 
flat, ib. ; language, ii. 270 ; natives 
fond of singing, ib. ; cultivation of 
land, 246. 
Bengal, vessels described, i. 51 ; again, 
100 ; servants, account of the bishop's 
journey, 473. 
Ben Totte, ii. 172; again, 199. 
Bhadrinath, i. 377 ; pilgrimage to, 399; 

height, 403 ; temple at, 422. 
Bhal, poetry of, ii. 32 ; account of, ib. 
Bheels, their mode of catching fish, iL 
39 and 40 ; bows, 40 ; depredations, 
ib. ; original inhabitants of Rajpoo- 
tana, 56 ; corps raised by Sir John 
Malcolm, 56 ; described, 64 ; robbers, 
66 ; hut, 67 ; signals, ib. ; suffer from 
drought, 67; guides, 72; huts, 76; 
mock battle between, 81 ; plunder 
and beat a woman, 82 ; anecdote of 
chief, 86 ; guides across the Mhye, 
105 ; watchmen, 106. 
Bheelwarra, town, ii. 37 ; robbers near, 
43. 

Bhooteas, tribe of, i. 403 ; horses, 408. 
Bhurtpoor, Raja of, i. 463 ; rampart of, 

visible, 483 ; sends Vakeel and letter, 

485 ; government described, ib. ; 

bishop returns answer, 493 ; siege of, 

ii. 299, 322. 
Biccanere, town, ii. 35. 
Bindrabund, holy place, i. 468 ; servant 

and escort go to, ib. 
Birds of Paradise, i. 129. 
Birds, small, ii. 165 ; in Kemaoon, i. 407. 



INDEX, 



377 



Birman Empire, ii. 244 ; war with, 297. 
Birth of the bishop's youngest daugh- 
ter, i. 82. 

Bishop's College, i. 70 ; designs with 
reference to, ii. 304; affairs of, 311 ; 
again, 319 ; committees in support of, 
335. 

Bliss, Rev. Philip ? i. 427. 

Blunt, Rev. J. J., letter to, ii. 311. 

Boa constrictor in Kemaoon, i, 434 ; in 

Ceylon, ii, 197. 
Botanical garden, i. 68 ; at Ceylon, ii. 

196. 

Boglipoor, i. 197. 

Bogwangala, i. 172; Nach girls, ib. 

Boitpoor town, i. 424. 

Bombay, arrival at, ii. 136; professional 
duties, ib. ; esplanade, 147 ; govern- 
ment houses, 148 ; observations, 164.; 
departure from, 166. 

Boolees, described, i, 504 ; again, ii, 38 ; 
again, 52 ; again, 87. 

Boonshah, village, i. 127. 

Boras, sect of, ii. 59 ; quarrel with Sun- 
nites, 60 ; unpopular, 128 ; quarrel 
with Patans, 131 ; thrive in Surat, 
133. 

Bore in the Ganges, i. 81. 

Boulderson, Mr., i. 367; accompanies 
the Bishop, 369 ; character, 391. 

Bowley, Mr. re-ordained, ii. 334. 

Boyd, Mr. Broach, sends guides, ii. 128. 

Brahmins, predict inundation, i. 47 ; 
some Decoits, 160; village of, 201 ; 
tired of their ceremonies, 287 ; one 
with tumour on his wrist, 498 ; 
he accompanies the Bishop to Jye- 
poor, 619 ; amputation of his hand, 
ii. 17 ; they sacrifice animals, 287. 

Brahminy bulls, i. 120. 

Brahminy Kerar, i. 465. 

Bread described, i. 360. 

Bread-fruit tree, ii. 173. 

Brinjarries, encampment of, ii. 28 ; 
their treatment from native armies, 
ib ; meet them with escort of Bheels, 
84 ; carrying corn, 92 ; their women, 
ib. 

British influence favourable to India, ii. 
281 ; Government not generally po- 
pular, ib.; reasons why, 282; com- 
pared with the French, ib. 

Broach, unhealthy, ii. 128. 

Bronze tint, effect of, i. 42-43. 

Brooke, Mr. Wm. Augustus, Benares, 
i. 242. 

Browning, Rev. Mr., Candy, ii. 193. 
Brownrigge, Gen. ii. 315. 



Buckland, Dr., i. 408. 

Buddh, sermon by, ii. 316. 

Buddhist priests, visit from, ii. 190 • 
temples, 192. 

Buffaloes in S. Bengal, i. 48; white one 
425 ; in Bombay, ii. 165. 

Bugger 00, village, ii. 17. 

Bugs, flying, i. 114. 

Buildings soon decay, i. 107. 

Bullumghur, Raja of, i. 456; invitation 
from, 463; bishop visits, ib. Nach 
girls, 464; sends escort, 465. 

Balwar Singh, his history, ii. 44. 

Bunaee town, ii. 30 ; fair at, 30, 31 ; 
Raja of, 31. 

Bunaira, town, ii. 35 ; Raja of, meets 
the bishop, ib.; conversation with, 36. 

Bunass river, ii. 38 ; again, 45. 

Bunder boat, ii. 130. 

Bunybunya village, i. 117. 

Butcher's island, ii. 151. 

Bussorah Merchant, crew of, ii. 204 ; 
invalids, ib. ; again, 325. 

Butter at Decoleah, i. 501. 

Buxar, i. 224 ; fort, ib. ; natives attend- 
ing service, 225 ; schools, ib. 



C. 



Cabul, horse, i. 421. 443. 

Cactus used as fortifications, ii. 25 ; 

with bamboos, ib. 
Cadampoor village, i. 115. 
Caffres in Ceylon, ii. 194. 
Calcutta, approach to, i. 52 ; fort, 53 ; 

cathedral, 56; quay, 59; again, ii. 227; 

confirmation, i. 82; shops and bazars, 

93; free-school, 67 ; departure from, 

100 ; situation, 131; again, ii. 203 ; 

state used, 220 ; country round, ib. ; 

city, 226 ; again, 229 ; climate, 232 ; 

alarm in, 298. 
Callianee river, ii. 153. 
Calisunker, Gossant, i. 244. 
Calpee, affair at, i. 471 ; again, ii. 276. 
Caltura, ii. 173; again, 199. 
Camel, cruelty to, i. 300 ; used by cou- 
riers, 315 ; driver left sick at Morada- 

bad, 427 ; returns, 485. 
Campbell, Mr. Archibald, at Shajihan- 

poor, i. 353. 
Candaulah waterfall, ii. 153 ; village, ib. 

again, 162. 
Candy, excursion to-, ii. 184; 2d"Adigar, 

186; 1st Adigar, 188; town, 189; 

chiefs, 190; fever, 191 ; palace, 192; 

tombs, 193 ; tunnel, 194 ; people, 315; 

cruelty of king, ib. 



378 



INDEX. 



Canterbury, Archbishop, letter to, ii 
326. 

Capital punishments, i. 61. 
Capolee village, ii. 152. 
Caramnasa river, i. 86 ; again, 228. 
Caravan described, i. 289 ; complaints, 
294. 

Carey, Dr., Serampoor, i. 80. 

Carlee cave, ii. 154 ; bridge, 156. 

Carriages, native, i. 53. 

Casherpoor, place of pilgrimage, i. 422. 

Cashi divinity, i. 423. 

Caste, ii. 201 ; miseries of, 291 ; quar- 
rels about, in the south among Chris- 
tians, 451. 

Catamaran, ii. 205-6. 

Catechumen, i. 430.' 

Catteyvmr silversmiths, ii. 120 ; emi- 
grants from, 127. 

Cattle abundant in Bahar, i. 190 



swimming, 210. 
Cavendish, Hon. Richard, at Delhi, i. 
465. 

Cawnpoor, i. 308 ; proposal to live at, 
ii. 277. 

Cedars in Kemaoon, i. 406. 
Central India, 4th presidency in, ii. 58; 

inhabitants of, 287. 
Cesare, Padre Giulio, i. 214, 216. 
Ceylon, population, ii. 201 ; religion, 

ib ; rivers, 199 ; account of, 315 ; 

again, 350. 
Chaliers Caste, ii. 176. 
Chalmer, Mr. Wm. Andrew, at Bog- 

lipoor, i. 183 ; character, 193. 
Chambers, Sir C. ii. 166. 
Chamberla yne, Mr., Baptist Missiona- 
ry, i, 410. 
Chamois in Himalaya, i. 407, 408. 
Chandernagore, i. 76 ; again, 100. 
Chaplains, inquiry into conduct of, ii. 

164; limited number of, 250; rules 

for their direction, 331, 
Chaplin, Mr. Wm. sends escort, ii. 

153 ; receives the Bishop at Poonah, 

156. 

Charcoal-burners, ii, 141. 
Charuns, history of, ii. 33 ; customs, ib ; 

one a dealer in horses, 80. 
Cheetao, Pindarree Chief, anecdote 

of, ii. 86. 
Cheeta Talao station, ii. 79. 
Chillumbrum, temple in, ii. 345. 
Cheta in Ceylon, ii. 189. 
Child-stealing, i. 161. 
Chilkeah, i. 421. 
Chinese frontier, i. 403. 
Chitpoor, i. 58 ; Nawab of, 89. 



Chittagong, account of, i. 143. 
Chittore town, ii. 43 ; mad woman, 
ib. ; castle, 46 ; palace in a lake, 47 ; 
anecdote of a Rannee, ib. ; temple, 
ib. ; pools and cisterns, 48 ; popula- 
tion, 50. 

Chinsura made a Missionary station, 

ii. 333. 
Chiituria, i. 195. 

Cholera Morbus, i. 45 ; again, ii. 63. 
Cholmondele y, Rev. Charles and Mrs. 

letter to, ii. 269. 
Chotee Siriva7i station, ii. 64 ; heat, 65. 
Chowbee Serai, i. 298 ; extortions of sol- 
diers, 299. 
Chomp na village, ii. 62 ; misery of in- 
habitants, ib. 
Chunar, i. 262 ; fort and stone cylinders, 
264 ; dungeon, 266 ; invalid station, 
268 ; church, ii. 268. 
Chundna river, i. 131. 
Chuprah, i. 222 ; Hindoo ascetic, ib. ; 
floating-shops, 222-3 ; request of ser- 
vants, 223. 
Churruck pooja described, i. 94. 
Church of England gaining populari- 
ty, ii. 272 ; her Liturgy, ib. ; Mission- 
ary Society, meeting of, i. 58 ; ii. 
234. 

Churches, Portuguese, ii. 143. 
Christening of the bishop's youngest 

daughter, i. 97. 
Christian David ordained, i. 99 ; com- 
plaints against, ii. 208; account of, 255. 
Christians, a few scattered among the 
mountains, i. 428; in Delhi and Agra, 
476 ; in Lucknow,344; in the South, 
ii. 313 ; nominal in Ceylon, 318 ; in- 
creasing in the south of India, 346. 
Christmas-boxes, i. 76. 
Choivmoka Devi, i. 416. 
Chowkee, ii. 152 ; again, 162. 
Chouringhee, i. 55. 
Chowsa town, i. 228. 
Cingalese, indolence of, ii. 174 ; orna- 
ment roads and bungalows, 170. 
Cinnamon gardens, ii. 173. 
Circular road, i. 58. 
Civet cat i. 81. 

Civil servants' characters, ii. 280. 
Clergy, introduction to, i. 54 ; character 

of, ii. 303. 
Cleveland, Mr., i. 184; monument to* 

190 ; his school and corps, 192. 
Climate, influence of, on complexions, 
i. 77. 

Cobbe, Capt. engaged with Bheels, ii. 

77. ' 



INDEX, 



379 



Cobra de Capello, i. 63; ii. 197. 

Cobra Guana, ii. 186. 

Coco-palms described, i. 44; not found 
north of Jellinghey, 171; reappear, 
ii. 85; caravan laden with nuts, 80, 

Colabah island, ii. 164; pier, ib. 

Colgony, i. 190. 

College, Roman Catholic, ii. 150. 
Colombo, arrival at, ii. 173; visitation, 

175; town, 177; churches, 177-8; 

address from clergy of, to the Bishop, 

198. 

Colombo, tomb of Mr.-, i. 150. 

Colquhoun, Sir Robert, i. 405; ac- 
companies the Bishop to Chilkeah, 
411 — 421; his opinion of Tandah, 
420. 

, Lady, i. 405—417. 

Colville, Sir Charles, ii. 118. 159. 
Combermere, Lord, ii. 320-1. 345. 

, Abbey, i. 48. 

Comercolly river, i. 167. 
Concan, tribes on the, ii. 154; un- 
heal thy, 162. 
Colonization, laws against, i. 229. 
Constantia palace, i. 322. 
Constantinople, gate of, i. 324. 
Converts, ii. 282. 
Cooseahs tribe, i. 290. 
Coolies, or Kholies, ii. 110. 
Coolies, difficulty in obtaining, i. 411. 
Coss Minars, i. 462. 
Corrie, Archdeacon, meets the Bishop, 

i. 45; accompanies him on his visi- 
tation, 100; his business at Bogli- 
poor, 184; vocabulary, 194; receives 
a letter from a Brahmin, 200; esta- 
blished mission school at Benares, 
249; favourite with the natives, ii. 
283. 

Corpulency admired, i. 87. 
Cornelians, ii. 120. 

Cornwallis's, Lord, settlement, i. 
204; monument, 230; settlement, ii. 
232. 

Corn, duties on, ii. 62. 
Cossypoor, village, i. 58. 
Coromandel coast, ii. 205. 
Coita, missionary station, ii. 178. 
Cotton from Dacca, i. 142; in Bombay, 

ii. 164; cotton-grass, i. 229. 
Crab, land, ii. 157. 

Crocodile first seen, i. 166; large one, 
208. 

Cunliffe, Colonel, i. 319. 
Cdrreem Musseeh. convert, i. 225. 

Vol. II. — 48 



Currah, tomb of Camaul Shek, i. 293. 

Curruckpoor hills, i. 197; height, 200; 
talc found on, 201. 

Cutch horses, i. 358; ass, ii. 149; inva- 
sion of, ii. 298. 



D. 

Dabla town, ii. 31; castle, 35; alterca- 
tion at, ib. 

Dak journey, i. 238; to Kairah, ii. 1 16; 
no regular dak, ib.; again, 152. 

Dacca, extent of, i. 140; course of the 
river changed, 142; ruins, ib.; cas- 
tle, 142; professional duties, 150; 
prisons, ib.; lunatic asylum, 150-1; 
women embroider, 161; described, 
ii. 258. 

Dacca, Nawab of, visits the Bishop, i. 

167; character, 149; kindness, 152; 

farewell visit to, ib. 
Dandees, i. 126; desertion of, 206; one 

drowned, 211 . 
Dante, i. 44. 
Dapoolie village, ii. 162. 
Datura Stramonium, i. 134. 
Davies, Mr. John, i. 125; indigo factor. 
Davies, Major, ii. 195; his tree, 196; 

Ceylon. 

Dawson, Captain, ii. 184; lays the line 
of road, 186. 

Debtors, allowance to, i. 151. 

Decoits, attack of, i. 156; story exag- 
gerated, 159. 

Deckan, population of, ii. 153; country 
154; government of, 159; drought, 
160; population, ib.; climate, 161. 

Deeolea, town, ii. 31. 

Deer, i. 489; again, 494. 

Dehican, village, ii. 120. 

Delhi, buildings, aqueduct, Humaioon's 
tomb, i. 444-5; old city, 447; shawl 
manufactory, 449; palace, 450; hall 
of audience, 454; confirmation at, 
460; departure from, 462; govern- 
ment, 466; pillar of black metal, ii. 
297. 

Delhi, Emperor of, i. 451; presentation 
to him, 451-2; presents exchanged, 
452-3; his history, 458; made a tank 
at Ajmere, ii. 27. 

Delhi, Empress of, sends presents, i, 
457. 

Deosa, i. 502; fair at, ib. 
Devotees, i. 102, 



380 



INDEX. 



Dhak tree, ih 51. 

Dhoon, valley of, i. 439. 

Dhotana village, i. 467. 

Diamond harbour, i. 45-6. 

Dibdin quoted, ii. 278. 

Digah farm, i. 221. 

Diha, i. 275; search for village, ib.; 

meet with brahmin watchman, ib. 
Dikhalee village, i. 420. 
Dil Koushar palace, i. 321; park, ib. 
Diocese, duties of, ii. 236. 
Discovery ship, ii. 166. 
Dod, Miss, letters to, ii. 225, 252. 
Dogs, i. 124; wild, 409 
Dokpah village, ii. 126; Bishop pays 

boatmen, ib. 
Dooab, decay in, i. 271; bad roads in, 

290 

Doobee village, i. 500 

Doodeah village, ii. 84 

Doonga village, ii. 78 

Doomberra peak, ii. 191 

Dor an, Rev. J., accompanies the Bish- 
op, ii. 212 

Douglas, Hon. Mrs., letters to, ii. 
237. 309 

Dow Arab, i. 47 

Drought, ii. 83; again, 90 

Ducat, Dr. Charles, Poonah, ii. 158 

Dum Dum, i. 64; church consecrated, 
65 

Durbar, i. 84-5; at Jyepoor, ii. 5-6 
Dwarf, i. 133 



E. 

Eagles, formidable, i. 407; supposed to 
be a Condor, 439; the " rok" of 
Sindbad, 440 

East India Company, liberality of, 
Preface, i. 404 

Elephants at Barrackpoor, i. 60; not 
allowed near Calcutta, 61; command 
their drivers have over them, ib.; 
bathing, 141; abound &t Dacca, 145; 
starved, 314; sagacity, 345; manner 
of killing tigers, 381; training for 
fight, ii. 6; baiting, 99; shooting, 185; 
anecdotes of, ib.; used for torturing, 
315. 

Elephania island, ii. 137; antiquity of, 
138 

Elliott, Mr. Charles, receives the 
Bishop at Delhi, i, 444; presents him 



to the Emperor, 450; his behaviour 
to the Emperor, 459 

Elliott, Mr. Charles B., i. 443 

Elphinstone, Hon. M., account of 
charcoal-burners, ii. 141; his bunga- 
low, 153; gives farewell breakfast to 
the Bishop, 166; his character, 166- 
7-8; again, 300. 310 

English Government, conduct of, to 
Mussulmans, i. 89; in Central India, 
ii. 58; in Guzerat, 110 

Escort under Hindoo soubahdar, i. 341; 
affected by cold, 502 

" Essence of owl," i. 374 

Europeans regarded as curiosities in 
Oodeypoor, ii. 34; speech of a girl, ib. 

Exaggeration great among Hindoos, i. 
188 

"Expectants," annoyance of, i. 491; 
one described, ib. 

F. 

Fagan, Captain James, Nusseerabad, 
ii. 30 

Fakirs on the river, i. 118; insane, 257. 

roasting himself, 484 
Falsification, proneness of natives to, 

i. 159 
Famine, ii. 127 
Female native schools, i. 70 
Field, Captain, Buxar, i. 224 
Fiorin grass, i. 167 
Fir in Kemaoon,i. 406; again, ii. 307 
Fires in the jungle by friction, i. 434 
Fireworks, i. 79 
Fire-flies, ii. 191—194 
Firoze's walking-stick, i. 447 
Fisher, Rev. Henry, i. 438; his son, 

ib.; another son, 439; his converts, 

442 

Fishermen, caste of, i. 45 

Fish-traps on the Ganges, i. 172; mode 

of catching, 420; at Umeerghur, ii. 

40; abound in India, 247 
Flowers in Ceylon, ii. 171 
Forde, Mr. Arthur Nicholas, i. 427-8 
Fort William, ii. 218 
Fox, small, i. 165 

Francklin, Lieut.-Colonel Win., ac- 
quirements, i. 193; visits the cave at 
Puttur Gotta, 197; his Palibothra, 
198 

Fraser, Rev. William, chaplain, Be- 

nares, i. 243 



INDEX, 



381 



Eraser, Capt. measures the Himalaya, 

ii. 41 
Free press, ii. 248 
Freemasons, i. 92 

French colonel, history of a, i. 476-7 

French, character of, i. 477; factory < 
at Surat, ii. 132; manners, 282 

Frogs, large, i. 98 

Frost, effects of, ii. 24 

Fruit-trees, groves of, signs of pros- 
perity, i. 431 

Fruit, boat with, i. 42 

Funeral piles, i. 79 

Furrah, town, i. 471 

Furreedabad, town, i. 462 

Fur reedpoor in Rohilcund, i. 361; en- 
joyments of travelling, 362 

Furreedpoor, i. 164, town 

Fultehgunge, i. 358, village 

Futteehpoor Sicri, approach to, i. 480; 
ruins, 481; palace, ib.; lake, 482 

Fulta village, i. 48; again, ii. 203 

Futteehpoor town, i. 302; beggars, 303 

Futwah town, i. 213; grinding corn, ib. 

Fvze Musseeh, convert, i. 294; his 
conversation with a Hindoo, 295 

G. 

Gallows-tree at Almorah, i. 402 

Ganges water used for washing idols, 
i. 107; first view of, 131; width of, 
136; noise, ib.; Hindoo geography 
of, 179; width, 199; called Puddah 
near Furreedpoor, 164; width in 
Kemaoon, 435; inundation of, 122 

Gang robbery, i. 159 

Gaol calendar, i. 161 

Gaowala, i. 115; again, 167; caste of, 
ib. 

Garden Reach, i. 52; again, ii. 218 
Gaughur Mount, height of, i. 415; pass 

the neck, 393 
Gauima, village, ii. 124 
Gaziodeennuggur, i. 443, town 
Gentoos, Hindoos called, ii. 122 
Geraro, Captain, ii. 40; his character, 
41; his measurement of the Hima- 
laya, ib. 

Ghats, ascent of, ii. 153; beauty of, 
162 

Ghazeepoor, i. 229; Nawab's palace, ib. 
plan for new church, 231; eastern 
and western Gothic compared, 232; 
palace, ib.; rose gardens and attar, 
233 



Ghee, consumption of, i. 45; a luxury, 
17. 

Ghorkhas, i. 402; government of, ib.; 
visit from their Vakeel, 409; history 
of a boy, 418 

Ghosts drinking, i. 131 

Ghurwal, i. 407; province 

Ghyal at Barrackpoor, i. 61 

Gibb, Mr. his account of Western and 
Central India, ii. 43-4 

Gisborne, Mrs., her school, ii. 201 

Gipseys, i. 113; again, 168; their east- 
ern name, 199; description, ib.; en- 
campment of, ii. 19 

Glenie, Rev. J. M. acting Archdeacon, 
ii. 169; lends his carriage, 183; ac- 
companies the Bishop to Candy, 184 

Goa, priests at, ii. 150 

Goldfinches in Kemaoon, i. 407 

Goode, Rev. Ambrose, receives the 
Bishop, ii. 116 

Goolun described, i. 122 

Goomly, ferry of river, i. 240; scene in 
village, 241 

Goonh, a deer, i. 366 

Gooroos, i. 58 

Gorabundar, ii. 140; church, 142 

Gossain, i. 188; another, 271 

Gour, ruins of, 181 

Gourman Singh, Rajah visits the Bish- 
op, i. 377; his history, 378; joins ti- 
ger-hunts, 379-80 

Government-house, Calcutta, i. 48; 
members of, their attention and 
kindness, ii. 219; at Bombay, 148; 
at Madras, 207 

Graham, Captain, i. 191; his populari- 
ty, 192 

Granary, i. 215; political discussion, 
ib. 

Grant, Captain, at Delhi, i. 447; again, 
451 

Grant, Captain, in the Deckan, 161 
Grant, Captain James Ludovick, at 

Madras, ii. 206 
Greeks at Dacca, i. 143 
Grenville, Lord, letters to, ii. 307. 

321 

Gresley, Lieutenant Francis, i. 158 
Grey, Sir Charles, ii. 210; again, ii. 

320; again, ii. 345 
Grosvenor, Earl, his seat, i. 324 
Gujrowlie, village, i. 432 
Gungrowr, town, ii. 42; its woods,, ii, 

42-3 

» • 



INDEX. 



382 

Guzerat, dearlh in, ii. 76; entrance into, 
78; parade in, 93; climate of, 98; 
inhabitants of, 106; state of know- 
ledge in, 110; fertility and revenue, 
111; unhealthiness of, 118; no groves 
in, 121; intense heat, ib.; march ex- 
cites curiosity in, 1.23 

Gwalparah, village, i. 138 

Gwatkin, Mr. John, at Madras, ii. 206 

H. 

Hafez Rehmut Khan, anecdote of, i. 

359 

Half-caste population, increase of, i. 

63; again, ii. 251 
Halhed, Mr. Nathaniel J. at Morada- 

bad, i. 428 
Hallo well, Rev. J. Madras, ii. 211 
Hamilton, Captain, Colombo, ii. 184 
Hastings, Marquis, revival of Puhar- 
ree school, i. 191; reforms their 
corps, ib.; visits their country, 193; 
conduct to the emperor of Delhi, 
257; again, 458; removes marble 
bath, 474; portrait of, 325; memorial 
to, 332; popularity, ii. 222; his roads, 
ib. 

Hastings, Warren, conduct to the em- 
peror of Delhi, i. 257; his populari- 
ty, 282 

Hatchment, Hindoo, i. 77 

Hats like umbrellas, i. 128 

Hardwicke, Major Gen. Thomas, his 
house and Museum, i. 64-5 

Harkness, Captain Henry, commands 
escort Sit Madras, ii. 210 

Haubroe, Mrs. ii. 339 

Havelbagh, i. 405-6; character of in- 
habitants, 406; vegetation, ib.; lines 
for sepoys, 405 

Hawkins, Mr. Francis, at Bareilly, i. 
363; long residence in India, 364; 
account of Rohillas, ib.; country 
house, 365 

Hawtayne, Rev. J. officiates at St. 
James's, and converts a Hindoo, i. 
65; attends the Bishop to schools, 71 

Hay, Robert William, ii. 232 

Heat, ii. 254; again, 345 

Heber, Mrs. Letters from the Bishop 
to his mother, ii. 242. 314 

■ , Mr., Letter from the Bishop to 

his brother, ii. 318 
Hecatombs of animals offered, ii. 287 



Herbert, Captain James Dowling, i. 
405; again, i. 423 

Hill, Hon. D., Madras, attention of, 
ii. 339 

Hill forts, ii. 158 

Hills, shape of, i. 502 

Hilsa fish, i. 126; again, 127 

Hilleh and the Birz ul Nimrouz, i. 179 

Himalaya, first view of, i. 370; again, 
371; passage of the nearest range, 
389; last view of, 416; visible from 
Meerut, 439; way of travelling in, 
ii. 307; described, 338 

Hindoo dead bodies, i. 42; their treat- 
ment of cattle, 52; character of, 58-9; 
mode of eating, 106; character, 236; 
patients, 134; hospital for animals, 
ii. 129; eat flesh, 233; character, 234; 
system of astronomy, 293; feelings 
towards Government, i. 306 

Hindoo idols, i. 77; pagoda on Mala- 
bar point, ii. 48 

creditor, character of, i. 151 

Hindoo's reasons for remaining at Jye- 
poor, ii. 16 

Hindoostanee pentateuch, i. 92; litur- 
gy, 338 

Hindooism prevalent in Agra and Del- 
hi, i. 468 

Hindostan, commencement of, i. 186; 

character of the people, 189 
Hodgson, Major, measures Himalaya, 

ii. 41 

Home's, Mr. pictures, i. 330; account 
of, 331 

Hood, Hon. Lady, [Mrs. Stuart Mac- 
kenzie,] i. 328 
Hooghly river, current of, i. 46 
Hoolee, festival of, ii. 51; again, 63; 

again, 66. 72. 81 
Horal, town, i. 466 
Hot winds, ii. 100; again, 111 
Hornby, Rev. E. T. S., Letter to, ii. 
250 

Horse, of straw, i. 134; purchase of, 
286; horse dealers, ib.; for servants, 
ib.; lies down, 302; Arab horses, ii. 

243 

Horton, Right Hon. R. J. Wilmot, 
preface, vii. Letters to, ii. 232. 285. 
298. 347 

Household servants, i. 54; establish- 
ment for child, 55; character of, 59 
Howrah, i. 58 

Humaioon, tomb of, i. 445. 447 



INDEX. 



383 



Human sacrifice, i. 162; again, ii. 239 
Huniman, the monkey general, i. 287 
Hurgila, account of, i. 55; again, 189 
Hurricane at Ajmere, ii. 27 
Hurry Mohun Thakoor, ii. 223; his 
villa, ib. 

Hutchinson, Captain, i. 439; Calcutta 
Hycena tamed, i. 408 
Hyde, Mr., i. 320 

Hymns, the Bishop's, sung, i. 439 1 
Hyne, Dr. George, appointed physi- 
cian, ii. 214. 340 

J. 

Jackall, cries described, i. 51; act as 
scavengers, 55; Hindoos wash in the 
blood, 74; fearless, 186; noise, 199 

Jain temple, i. 253; sectaries, ib.; tem- 
ple, ii. 19; one deserted, 73-4; at 
Kairah, 119 

Jalap plant, i. 159 

Janghuirabad, i. 271 

Jats, claim the affix of Singh, i. 468; 
women, 489; zealous Hindoos, 493; 
courageous, 495; T in Rajpootana, ii. 
59; described, 299 

Java ponies, i. 259 

Jqffier Gunge, i. 136 ; again 164 

Ice, first seen, i. 394 ; manner of mak- 
ing, 429 

Idolatry, effects on the mind, ii. 291 ; 

of Hindoos the worst, ib. 
Idols near Calcutta, i. 88 ; one going 

to Bindrabund, 498 ; custom of 

throwing them into the Ganges, 

503 

Jeffries, Rev. Henry, Surat, ii. 29 

Jehanguire, tomb of, i. 448 

Jerrdda village, ii. 93 

Jervis, Lieutenant, Bombay, ii. 136 

Jewellery of natives, i. 165 

Jeyt, village, i. 467 

Iguana, large, i. 135 

Jhulloda, city, ii. 80 

Illness, i. 343-4; of children, 163 

Imam, visit of, i. 297; history, ib. 

Imambara, i. 324 

Imperial-tree, i. 426 

India, richness of, i. 270; preparations 
for travelling in Western, i. 478; na- 
tives civilized, ii. 289; intercourse 
with Europe, ii. 290; receive early 
intelligence, 291; reasons for and 
against living in, ii. 301-2; climate, 



309; again, 313; different nations 
in, 310 

James's, Saint, Church, consecrated, i. 
65 

Indian death-watch, i. 122 

Indigo, planters of, i. 115; attention of 

two, 116; works visited, 117; works, 

ib.; rent of ground, 122; works, 124; 

planters, ii. 280 
Indore merchant, anecdote of, ii. 33 
Indraput, i. 447; city. 
Infanticide, female, ii. 69; again, 192 
Inglis, Sir Robert Harry, Pref. vii.; 

letter to, ii. 249 
Intended tour in the south, ii. 344 
Inundation, near Dacca, i. 155; effects 

of, 179 
Joudpoor castle, ii. 29 
Journey detailed, ii. 285 
Jowrah, the Rajmahal chief, i. 191. 
Irrigation by wells, i. 488 
Irving, Rev. John, i. 473; kindness of, 

476 

Mrs. kindness of, i. 479 

Islamabad town, i. 143 

Juggernauth, ii. 217 

Jumna river, water bad, i. 462; des- 
cribed, 472; again, 476 

Jumna Musjeed, i. 444; described, 450; 
again, 474 

Jumsheed, i. 423. 

Jungle-grass, height of, i. 138; poultry, 
415 

Jungleterry district, i. 201 
Junma Osmee, festival of, i. 211 
Jeyepoor, comparative security of, i. 
495; country inferior to Rajpootana, 
500; march to, 502; besieged by 
Ameer Khan, 507; climate, ii. 3; 
town and palace, 5-6; history of 
court, 9; city described, 11 
Jyepoor, Rannee of, sends escort, i. 
495; her conduct to the Resident, ib. 
behaviour of her Vakeel, 500; pre- 
sents from, ii. 8; violent conduct, 9; 
her Goorop, 10; murders her attend- 
ant, 14; her service disliked, 20; 
sends message 21; advice given by 
the Bishop, 21-2 
Jye Singh built Jyepoor, ii. 11; and 
Umeer, 12 

K. 

Kadoogarnan'on pass, ii. 187-8 



384 



INDEX. 



Kairah town, ii. 116; church conse- 
crated, 117; school and libraries, ii. 
117-18 

Kali, festival of, i. 74; description of, 
188 

Kalingera village, ii. 73 
Keays, Rev. Rob. Young, ii. 98 
Kedamath in Himalaya, i. 371; height, 
403. 

Kedgeree, i. 43; pots used as floats for 

palanquins, 313 
" Kehama" quoted, i. 184; again, ii. 

212—217 

Kemaoon, preparations for journey to, 

i. 367; subject to earthquakes, 404; 

bare of wood, 406; population, 407; 

Raja of, ib.; fire by friction in, 434 ; 
Kennery caves, ii. 137. 144-5; view 

from, 146. 

■ in Ceylon, ii. 199 

Kerowlie, Thannadar of, i. 480; his 

certificate from Lord Lake, ib. 
Khanwa village, i. 483 
Khasyas, i. 386; encampment of, ib. ; 

peasantry, 390; caste, 393; mode of 

carrying burthens, 411; poverty, 

414 

Khizr, offering to, i. 132 

Kholie, or Coolie, ii, 89; sepoys, 106 ; 

history of, 107; character, 108 
Kidderpoor suburb, i. 52 
Kiblas, turf-built, i. 134 
Kim Chowkee, ii. 130 
King's house, Ceylon, ii. 173 
Kishenghur town, ii. 23; difficulties at, 

ib.; character of Raja, ib. 
Knight's Mr. R. D. surgeon at Bareil- 

ly, opinion of jungle fever, i. 369 
Knox, Brigadier Alex, at Nusseerabad, 

his account of the Mhairs, ii. 27; 

confirmation, 29 
Knudtzon family, i. 75 
Koosilla river, i. 405; suspension bridge, 

ib. mentioned again, 416 — 419 
Kootab sahib, i. 453 
Krefting, Colonel, governor of Se- 

rampoor, i. 75 
Kulleanpoor, i. 376; malaria fever, ib. 
Kulleanpoor, stormy journey to i. 304 



L, 

Labour, cheapness of, i. 156 
Ladak, i. 403; people of, 445; presents 
from to England, ii. 290 



Lake, Lord, his behaviour to Emperor 
of Delhi i. 458. 465; his defeat at 
Bhurtpoor, ii. 321 

Lalljee, painter, i. 249 

Lambrick, Rev. Samuel, Ceylon, ii. 
178 

Lanca, native name for Ceylon, ii. 86 
Lancasterian system, i. 67 
Landlords and tenants, i. 88 
Landseer, Mr. John, engraving by, i. 
152 

Language, eastern words transplanted 

into English, i. 77 
Lascarines, ii. 171 
Latteen sails, ii. 135 
Layard, Mr. Charles, ii. 169; his 

breakfast, 199; his son accompanies 

the Bishop of Calcutta, 201. 
Leaf-insects, ii. 197 
Mebada described, i, 426 
Lee, Mr. Dacca, i. 144 
Leeches, flying, ii. 197 
Leechees described, i. 98 
Leemree village, ii. 82 
Lent lectures, i. 90 
Lepers, misery of, i. 470 
Leprosy common,!. 68; on boatmen on 

the river and at Madras, i. 118 
Leverets brought, i. 292 
Le ycester, Mr. William, i. 428 
Leyden's " Scenes of Infancy," i. 434 
Lingam worship, i. 188 
Lions in Kemaoon, i. 369; none in the 

south of India, ii. 213 
Lizards, ii. 146 

Lockitt, Captain, Lucknow, i. 337 
" Lodge in a garden of cucumbers," i. 

134; again,i. 166 
Longevity rare, i. 352 
Looko Banda, Candian, ii. 188 
Lorrinite in " Kehama," i. 426 
Lowther, Mr. Robert, Bundishehr, i. 

441 

Lucka Geery district, i. 273 

Lucknow, entrance into, i. 316; resi- 
dent's house, 318; influenza, 319; 
menagerie, 320; civility of people, 
323; palace for widows, 324; popu- 
lation, 338 

Lumley, Lieut. Colonel Jas. R. ii. 60; 
increases the escorts, 61 

Lushington, Mr. Jas. Stephen, i. 206 ; 
accompanies the Bishop, i. 289; re- 
mains at Lucknow, 340; rejoins at 
Delhi, 445; presented to the Empe- 
ror, 450; returns to Lucknow, 482 



f 



INDEX, 



Luxuries of the East described, ii. 19 
Lynxes at Barrackpoor, i. 62; in Hi- 
malaya, 407 

M. 

Macdonald, Captain, ii. 55; proposed 

route to Bombay, ib.; his Moonshee, 

85—87 
Mac Clintock, Mr., i. 57 
Macleod, Mr. Norman, at Benares, 

kindness of, i. 242 
Mac Mahon, Lady, i. 328 
Mad woman at Chittore, ii. 45 
Madras, view of, ii. 205; landing, 206; 

professional duties, ib. houses, 207; 

servants, 210; climate, ib.; departure 

from, ib.; clergy and schools, 208; 

Government-house, 207 
Maha-bali-poor, ruins and temple of, 

ii. 213 

Maharattas, plainness of, ii. 18; op- 
pression of, 71; affect plainness in 
dress, 85; horse, 93; banner and ket- 
tle-drum, 123. 

Mahim, town, ii. 147: wood and ferry, 
150 

Mahommedans, character of, ii. 241; 
religion, 291-2 

Mainwarlvg, Rev. E., Bombay, ii. 164 

Malabar-point, ii. 148 

Malcolm, Sir John, character of, i. 
488; arrangements at Malwah, 500. 
his Central India, ii. 32. 39 51; his 
history of a Maharatta play, i. 505 ; 
raises corps of Bheels, ii. 57; cha- 
racter as Governor, 58; at Bans- 
warra, 97 

Maldivian boats, i. 42; again, 51 

Mallaoon village, i. 343 

Malwah, European vegetables in, ii. 
60; dialect in, 67; police of, 77 

Mangoes, described, i. 98; trees, 424 

Mansbach, Mr. i. 75 

Man watching his cucumbers, 272 

Mandar, ruins, i. 197 

Manchineel tree, i. 51 

Manning, Captain William, i. 51; 
leaves the Bishop, 72; character, ib. 
and ii. 231 

Manners of the people, i. 424; shy, ib. 
clamours for justice, 425; look to 
the English for help, 435; instance of 
good feeling, 436 



385 

Mar Simeon, ii. 208 

Mar Abraham, ii. 209; again, 343 

Mar Athanasius, ii. 208-9; again, 343; 

his quarrels, ib. 
Marriage procession, i. 90; another, 

489; another, ii. 21 
Marmots, i. 408 

Marshman, Dr. i. 80; opinion of Sut- 
tees, ib. 

Martin, General Claude, i. 322 ; his 

tomb, ib. 
Marwar, ii. 29; bullocks, ib. 
Massacre at Candy, ii. 195. 

Master, Mr. Gilbert, C. of Dacca, 
message from, i. 139; his kindness, 
ib. ; attention to the Nawab, 144 ; 
popularity, 159; his kindness again, 
ii. 265 

Masuli boat, ii. 205 

Maloonga, cantonment, ii. 139; chapel, 
164 

Matabunga river, i. 104; rapids 119, 
120 

Mattacolly river, i. 126; town, 128 
Maungunga town, i. 499,500 
Maunpoor town. i. 499 
Mayor, Rev. R. ii. 169; his station, 
199; Baddagame again, 315 

Mayor, Rev. John, letter to, ii. 316 

Meade, Captain, Meerut, i. 441 

Meagunge fort, i. 342 

Mecazenas, Rev. J. i. 83 

Medical skill, the Bishop's asked, i. 
432; again, 435; for horses, 436 

Meer Israf Ali, i. 153; visit to, ib. 
attention of, ii. 265 

Meerut church, i. 439; climate, ib.; 
school and hospital, 441; native con- 
gregation, ib. 

Meilapoor, suburb of, ii. 211 

Men fighting, ii. 18 

Meriton, Mr. Henry, Superintendant 
of Marine, Bombay, ii. 166 

Meru mount, i. 371; described, 398; 

height, 403 
Metcalfe, Sir Charles, his conduct to 

the Emperor of Delhi, i. 459 
Mewattees tribe, i. 470 
Meywar, want of rain in, ii. 51 
Mhair tribe, i. 27; corps raised, ib. 
Mhowa-tree, ii. 73; fermented juice, 

63 

Mhye river, ii. 68; passage of, 105; es- 1 
tuary of, 124; passage of, 124-5 



I 



386 INDEX, 



Myhsrie river, ii. 78; again 8.2; another 
of the same name, 89 

Middleton, Bishop, i. 70; tablet to, ii. 
177; issues letter to Clergy, 326 ; 
travels in the south, 344 

Milk-maids dancing, i. 467 

Mill, Rev. W. Principal of Bishop's 
College, meets the Bishop, i. 45; en- 
deavours to converse with a Brah- 
min, 44; his character, ii. 333 

Mill for rice, i. 50 

Millet, thrashed, i. 168 

Milman, Rev. H. H. i. 361 

Minarets, none in Calcutta, i. 93 

Mission school at Candy, ii. 193; at 
Cotta, 178; at Baddagame, 199; ad- 
dress to and answer from the Bishop 
178. 183 

Missionary church at Mirzapoor, i. 57 

Missionary stations, ii. 201 

Mitford, Mr. i. 152 

Mocha stones, ii. 120 

Mohanna river, i. 126; again, 180 

Mohout beats his wife, ii. 81-2 

Mohunpoora village, ii. 504; difficulty 

in procuring forage, 505 
Mompezier caves, ii. 147 
Monghyr, i. 201; fort, 202; cutlery, ib. 

Zemindarries, 203 
Monkeys, i. 321; disturb bees 1 nest, ii. 

75 

Monson, Colonel, his retreat, ii. 32 
" Montagnes Russes" of masonry, ii. 
224 

Monsoon, ii. 150 

Montgomerie, Captain, Rajmahal, i. 
191 

Moodeliers, ii. 170 

Mooucroft, Mr. i. 403 

Moore, Hon. R. F. sends servants, ii. 

22; his house, Ajmcre, 27 
Moradabad, i. 427; hospital, 428 
Moreton, ii. 273 

Morier, Mr. James, visits Secundria, 
189 

Morris, Rev. Church Missionary, i. 
244 

Morrison, Colonel, i. 219 
Morton, Rev. W. sent to Chinsurah, 
ii. 344 

Mountain ravines, ii. 104 
Mosquito curtains,!. 46 
Motee Musjeed, i. 474 
Mousabad town, ii. 19 



Mucharunga bought for the golden 

Zenannah, 176 
Mulberry-tree, dwarf, i. 120 
Muhaisna, i. 431 

Mullaow village, drought at, ii. 90 

Mungoose, 366 

Mundiserai, i, 300; rain at, ib. 

Munro, Sir Thomas, ii. 210; kindness, 
339; again, 340 

Munro, Lady, ii. 340 

Mustard-seed, i, 116 

Mussulmans, prejudices of, 47, mendi- 
cants, 133; their religion mixing 
with their actions, 170; legend of 
saint, 185; tomb, ib; influence of 
their Imams and Moullahs, 160; en- 
counter with suwarr, 348-9; their 
governors better than Hindoo go- 
vernors, ii. 59; their reasons for 
leaving Jyepoor, 16; their prejudice, 
163; described, 257; their religion, 
291-2 

Muttra town, i. 468; officers shooting 

monkeys, 469; Church service, ib. 
Mynas, nests of, i. 106 



N. 

Nach described, i. 66; girls, ii. 100; 
again, 105; man, 140 

Nacoda of Arab ship, i. 59 

Nagari first heard, ii. 85 

Namdar Khan, ii. 96 

Native Schools of the Society for 
Promoting Christian Knowledge, i. 
71; female schools, ii. 70-1; free- 
school, 67, female schools, ii. 229 

Natives, their timidity, 87; their confi- 
dence in Europeans, 93; introduced 
at the Bishop's party, 93; their fami- 
liarity with Europeans, 123; in- 
stances of their charity, 200; their 
ideas of the Bishop of Calcutta, 256; 
not jealous of his arrival, 257; averse 
from British rule, 258; converts, 442; 
sovereigns, ii. 58; houses, 221; imi- 
tate the English, 222; again, 233: 
approve of English schools, 233-4; 
anecdotes of, 238 

Native removed from his regiment for 
conversion, i. 441. 



INDEX. 



387 



Navigation of river between Calcutta 
and Dacca, i. 117 ; simple, on the 
Ganges, 136. 

Nawab Gunge, village, i. 155. 

Nawall Singh, i. 314. 

Njeave, Mr. John, at Shahjehanpoor, i. 
353. 

Nedjeed, horse, i. 421, 443. 
Neelghaus, i. 321. 
Neelghurry hills, ii. 340. 
Neem-tree, i. 51. 
Neemhaira town, ii. 51 ; government, 
52, 53. 

Neemuch cantonment, ii. 54 ; confirma 
tion, 60. 

Nerbudda river, passage of, ii. 130. 

Nerriad town, ii. Ill ; heat at, 112. 

Nestorian Christians, i. 366. 

Nicol, Rev. Dr. Alex., translator of di- 
alogue, i. 159. 

Night-march, and recollections, i. 300 

NigKt-blindness, ii. 50. 

Ninevah, tomb of Yunus, (Jonas,) i. 
179. 

Nizam-ul-deen, i. 448. 

Noor Musseeah, convert, i. 428. 

Northmore, Rev. Thos. Welby, at Di 

napoor, i. 221. 
North-westers, ii. 255. 
Nundidevi, in Himalaya, i. 394 ; height, 

403; effect of sunset, 413; smoke 

from it, 423 ; query, volcano ? ib. 
Nusseerabad, i. 490; bearers refuse 

to go further, 479 ; described, ii. 28 ; 

confirmation, 29 ; departure from and 

society of, 30. 
Nutmeg-tree, i. 69. 
Nuzzur presented, i. .315 



O. 



Oak, in botanic gardens, i. 69. 

Observatory, Hindoo, i. 252. 

Ochterlonv, the late Sir David, beha- 
viour to Emperor of Delhi, i. 459 ; 
agent to Governor-General, 487 ; his 
camp, ib.; his Moonshee, 488; his 
house at Neemuch, ii. 60; accedes to 
the Rannee's demands, 10 ; com 
mences war in Rajpootana, 299; meets 
the bishop, i. 503 ; his history, 504. 

Offenders sentenced to labour, i. 61- 

Okeden, Mr. Parry, Moradabad, i. 427; 
calls on the bishop, 429. 

Okuu-doonga, village, i. 417 ; climate, 
ib. ; huts for travellers, ib. 

" Oliver Newman," Southey's Poem of, 
ii. 338. 

Vol. II.— -49 



Onnaw, village, i. 312. 

Oodeypoor, district, ii. 31 ; suffers from 
Pind arries, 32 ; history of, 44. 

Ootian Candy, ii. 187 ; bungalow, ib. 

Opium, manner of collecting, ii. 63. 

Order of the Madras government with 
reference to native Christians, ii. 350; 
again, 351. 

Orphan female school, i. 63. 

Otters kept like dogs, i. 127 ; used for 
fishing, 127, 130. 

Oude, King of, sends escort, i. 312; 
sends his officer, 315; houses, 321; pa- 
lace, 325; minister, 318; bishop 
breakfasts with, 325 ; conversation, 
326 ; his crown, ib. ; described, 328; 
government order respecting pre- 
sents, ib. ; breakfasts with the Resi- 
dent, 329 ; attends his marriage, 330 ; 
character of, 331. 

Oude, character of people, i. 323 ; gov- 
ernment of, 331, 334; population, 338; 
armed peasantry, ib. 

Oudunpoor, i. 351 ; beggar, 352; conver- 
sation with merchant, ib. 

Ovans, Captain Charles, his maps, ii. 
106. 

Ouseley, Sir Gore # i. 170; visits Se- 
cundria, 189. i 



P. 



Paget, Rev. Mr., tomb of, i. 150. 
Paget, Sir Edward, his conduct to the 

Emperor of Delhi, i. 459. 
Paglapwl, near Dacca, i. 152. 
Palanqueens, prices of, i. 56. 
Pallee, town, ii. 30. 

Palmer and Co., their indigo works, i. 
125. 

, Mr,, conversation with Bheels, 



ii. 41. 
Paltura, ii. 173, 199. 
Palms reappear, ii. 85. 
Palmyra tree, i. 50. 
Panchway, i. 44. 

Panchelwas, village, ii. 68; carts de- 
scribed, ib. 
Panwellee, ii. 151—163 ; river, ib. 
Parish, Rev. Wm. Dacca, i. 142. 
Pariah dog, 1. 401, 412. 
Pareil, government house at, ii. 148 ; 

garden, 149. 
Parry, tho late Mr. Edward, ii. 236. 
Parsees thrive at Sural, ii. 133 ; their 
worship, 147 ; their burial ground, 
148. 

Parsons, Rev. Joseph, i. 54. 



388 



INDEX. 



Patna,\. 214; gardens, ib. ; hackeries, 

218 ; no burial ground, ib. 
Paton's route, 1, 430. 
Peacocks, wild, i. 366 ; again,* 4*89 ; pe- 

culiarity of, ib. 
Pearls, ii. 165 ; fishery, 174. 
Peasantry, armed, i. 291; described, ib 
Peepul-tree, i. 500. 

Peerpointee, tomb of Mussulman saint, 

i. 185 ; cave, 186. 
Pelissier, Monsieur, Governor of 

Chundervajore, i. 76. 
Penny, Colonel, meets the bishop, 

Muttra-, i. 468. 
Penrhyn, Mr. E. i. 75. 
Perjury common, i. 162. 
Persian Secretary attends Durbar, i. 

84 ; his duties, 90. 
Pertaubghur, city, ii. 60; cold and frost, 

ib. 

Peshawer, village, i. 494. 
Pharsah, village, i. 488. 
Pigeons, i. 489. 

Pilgrims to the Ganges, i. 360 ; to Mec- 
ca, 361 ; another, 399 ; to Ajmere, ii 
26 ; join the caravan, 18. 

Pillibheet, rice, i. 418. 

Pindarries, incursions of, 494 ; depre- 
dations, 501 ; oppression, ii. 71. 

Pine-apples, wild, ii. 173. 

Pirates, Arab, ii. 242. 

Pitland, town, ii. 123 ; visit from Kam- 
dar, ib. ; presents exchanged, ib. 

Plaintain, i. 42. 

Poet, native, i. 68. 

Poetry, i. 173, 176. 

Point de Galle,iu 169; climate, 170; 
confirmation, 171; departure from, 
ibid.; return to and embarkation 
from, 201. 

Pokur, Hindoo temple, ii. 27. 

Political state of India, ii. 243. 

Poneys, sagacity of, 412 ; break loose, 
500. 

Poor, collection for, i. 71. 
Poonah, ii. 156; country, 157; city, 

158 ; illness at, 156 ; departure from, 

162. 

Poonah, Peishwah of, ii. 158. 
Poppies first seen, ii. 36 ; again, ii. 51 

61 ; injured by frost, ii. 62. 
Porpoises, i. 168 ; again i. 169. 
Portuguese in Calcutta, i. 67 ; churches, 

ib. ; complexion, i. 78. 
Potatoes in Bengal, i. 47. 
Precious stones, ii. 198. 
Presidency separated, ii. 300, 
Propaganda Society, i. 102. 



Protection afforded the bishop in his 

long journies, ii. 305. 
Provisions, dearness of, 84. 
Pruny, village, i. 413. 
Pudda, one name of the Ganges, i. 164. 
Puharrees, i. 183 ; school, 191 ; no 
castes, 192 ; features, ib. ; character, 
193; resemble the Welch, 194; reli- 
gion, 195 ; festivals, ib. ; vaccination, 
196 ; oath, climate, 197 ; unprejudic- 
ed, ib. ; mentioned again, 403. 
Puller, Sir Christopher, his death, i. 
98 ; again, ii. 254 ; character, ib. 
, Lady, returns home, ii. 254. 



Pundit aXKemaoon, i. 410 ; his discourse 

on astronomy and Geography, ib. 
Punt Ka Peepul, i. 416. 



R. 



Radha, burden of a song, i. 116. 

Rahoo, a large fish, i. 115. 

Rain, providential, i. 306 ; again, 443. 

Rajmahal hills, i. 179; again, 180; 
town, 181 ; sort of Tyrol, 192 ; describ- 
ed, 198. 

Rajpootana distressed, ii. 55 ; Thakoors 
sit before their chiefs, ii. 79. 

Rajpoots, i. 45 ; use the affix of Singh, 
468 ; boy wishes to accompany the 
bishop, 888 ; chief, 498 ; their charac- 
ter, ii. 55 ; good horsemen, 11 ; their 
strings and medals, 20 ; described, 
21. 

Rama and Seeta, festival of, i. 286-7-8. 
Ram Deen, ruins, Banswarra, ii. 172. 
Ramghur, i. 395 ; people described, ib. ; 

idolatry, and religious beggars, 396 ; 

quarrel with Goomashta, ib. 
Ramghur village, i. 497 ; entrance to 

the castle refused, ib. 
Rampoor, i. 430. 

Raper Colonel F. V. 495 ; leaves Jye- 
poor, ii. 11 ; attends the bishop to Ba- 
neraty, 17. 

Rats, i. 409. 

Receipt for horses, i. 357. 
Reynell, General, i. 441; assigns sur- 
geon to the bishop, 442. 
Reichardt, Rev. re-ordained, ii. 334. 
Religion in Ceylon, ii. 201. 
Reynell, Major James, maps, i. 106 ; 

discrepancies, 112. 127. 137. 171. 
Rhadacant Deb, i. 91 ; his opinion of 

female schools, ii. 230. 
Rhanaghat, i. 105. 
Rhinoceroses, i. 321 ; again, ii. 96. 



INDEX. 



389 



Rhoders, ii. 201. 

Ribband-men in Ireland, i, 160 ; again, 
160. 

Rice not nourishing, i. 47 ; the most va- 
luable, 169; inferior, 175; in Okul 
Doonga, 418. 

Rich, the late Claudius James, i. 320. 

Rienze, Chevalier, ii. 146. 

Ricketts, Mr. Mordaunt, resident at 
Lucknow, i. 311 ; message from, 315 ; 
introduces the bishop to the King of 
Oude, i. 325 ; acts as chaplain, 339. 

Rivers in Ceylon, ii. 199 ; families on 
them, ib. 

Robbery, increase of, i. 160; alarm of, 
ii. 18; preparations against, ib. 

Robertson, Lieutenant Colonel Thorn 
as, presents a memorial, i. 269 ; the 
bishop's answer, Chunar, ib. 

Robinson, Rev. Thomas, at Poonah, 
ii. 159; accompanies the bishop to 
Ceylon, 166 ; to Madras, 203 ; reads 
with the bishop to the sick in the 
" Bussorah Merchant," 325. 

Rodney, Honourable John, in Ceylon, 
ii. 173 ; again, 199. 

Rohilcund, conquest of, i. 354 ; tumults 
in, ii. 274-275. 

Rohillas under British government, i 
354 ; insurgents, ib. ; anecdote of 
chief, ib. ; soil and climate, 355. 

Roman Catholics, number and charac 
ter of, ii. 282 ; again, 350. 

Romer, Mr. ii. 132. 

Rooh, fish described, i. 274. 

Rottler, Rev. Dr. ii. 208. 339. 

Roy, Rev. Wm., senior chaplain at 
Madras, ii. 206. 

Ruderpoor, i. 382 ; misery, 384 ; visit 
from magistrate, i. ib. ; annual con 
flagration, i. 3,84. 

Ruperra village, i. 129. 

Rushes, long, i. 112. 



S. 



Sadras town, ii. 214. 

Saees, death of, ii. 63. 

Sago-palm, i. 69. 

Sakra village, ii. 127. 

Salmon, Capt., i. 315 ; his suwars, 316; 

escorts the bishop through Lucknow, 

342. 

Salsette, coast of, ii. 135 ; island, 139. 
Salt-water lake, i. 57. 
Saltpetre, i. 82 ; monopoly of salt, ii. 
248. 



Saltara, Rajah of, ii. 161. 
Sam, Mr., Armenian, ii. 208. 
Sambur, salt lake of, ii. 20. 
Sandheads, the bishop proceeds to, ii. 
204. 

Sandys, Capt. Fred. Hervey, ii. 29. 
Sandee, i. 347 ; dangerous for travellers, 
ib. 

Sanscrit taught in Hindoo colleges, ii. 
294. 

Sansoni, Mr. ii. 169 ; accompanies the 

bishop, 199 ; returns home, 201. 
Saugur, island of, i. 41 ; again, ii. 217 ; 

lightning at, ib. 
Sawa town, ii. 50; drunken men, ib. 
Sawers, Mr., receives the bishop at 

Candy, ii. 189. 
Schwartz, Missionary, ii. 341 ; his la- 
bours and character, 349 ; guardian 
to the Raja of Tanjore, ib. ; monu- 
ment to, 348. 
Scorpions, i. 270; bite, ii. 120; again, 
197. 

Scott, Mr., i. 427 ; Scott Sir W. 317 ; 

again, ii. 13. 
Sea snakes, ii. 165; horror of sea, 86. 
Secundra, i. 473. 

Secrole, i. 242 ; chapel, 243 ; case of na- 
tive convert, 243 ; mission-school, 
244. 

Seeta Coom, i. 201. 
Seidpoor, i. 239. 
Seiks, i. 479. 

Self-immolation by drowning, i. 255. 
Sepoy regiments recruited from Bahar, 
i. 87. 

Sepoy's scruples about caste, i. 140 : 
gratitude of, 343 ; desertion of one, 
350; sickness, 351 ; carelessness, 377: 
volunteer to go to Almorah, 388 
two accompany the bishop, 391 
hardiness, 413 ; like children, 414 ; 
one sick at Moradabad, 427 ; one 
killed, ii. 38; his children, ib. ; two 
ill ; 127 ; derivation of the word, 106. 
Serai described, i. 302 ; lodgers in, de- 
scribed, ii. 132. 
Serampoor, i. 60 ; described, 75. 
Serpent, ii. 162. 
Shaddock, described, i. 42. 
Shahjehanpoor, frontier of Oude, i. 353; 

described, ib. ; common name, 435. 
Shakespear, M. C, his rope bridges, 
i. 84 ; at Benares, and for the Caram- 
nasa. 

Shark, escape from, ii. 206. 
Shaw, Colonel, i. 193. 



390 



INDEX. 



Shawl-goat, i. 408. 

Sheeshghur, Raja of, visits the Bishop, 
i. 372 ; drought, 371 ; Nach women, 
372. 

Shipley, Very Rev. Dean, letters to, ii. 
228, 243. 

Shipley, Rev. Charles, letter to, ii. 
346. 

Shore, Hon. F. J., bravery of, i. 365. 

Sibnibashi, i. 106 ; ruins, pagoda, and 
palace, 107, 108 ; the bishop visits 
Raja Omichund, i. 109, 110. 

Sick servant, i. 301 ; carried by women, 
ib. 

Sicligully,i. 185. 
Sikh travelling, i. 396. 
Sikre, Casim Ali Khan, Nawab of, i. 
465. 

Simms, Mr., Moradabad, i. 427. 

Simpson, Mrs., her school, i. 225. 

Sindia, i. 498 ; at Neemuch, ii. 52; his 
sepoys, 25 ; benefactor to tomb at 
Ajmere, 26; ntPokur, 27; his towns in 
Guzerat, 78. 

Singh, Raja, relics of, at Candy, ii. 193. 

Sircar described, i. 54. 

Siva, temple to, at Chittore, ii. 47 ; mi- 
narets, 49. 

Skinner, Col. cavalry, i. 443 ; gives 
money for a church, ib. ; his escort 
accompany the bishop to Nusseera- 
bad, ii. 4, 18 ; his horsemen, 154. 

Slavery illegal, i. 59 ; Slave Island, ii 
177. 

Smith from Yorkshire, i. 299. 
Smith, Dr. H., appointed the bishop, i 

442 ; gives opium to sepoys, ii. 20 ; 

his death, 340. 
Snake in the cabin, i. 273 ; account of 

one, ib. 

Society in the upper provinces, ii. 280. 
Soliman, Shekh, tomb of, i. 481. 
Sooty, or Moorshedabad river, i. 178. 
Soubahdar goes to Bindrabund, i. 468; 

his attention, 496 ; illness and death, 

ii. 15. 

Southern India, accounts from, ii. 91 

Southey, his Padalon, i. 44; Kailyal, 
91 ; crocodile island, 135 ; Lorrinite, 
426 ; his « Oliver Newman," ii. 338. 

Spinning wheels, i. 424. 

Spirits, bad effects of, on troops, ii 
204. 

Squirrel, Indian, i. 74; flying, 408. 

Storm on the river, i. 102. 

Stowe, Rev. Martin, arrival, i. 94 ; ac- 
companies the bishop, 100 ; wades in 
a marsh, 136 ; illness, 139 ; his death, 
149 ; again mentioned, ii. 261 ; bu- 



rial, 263 ; interest excited by, 265 $ 
reflections on his death, 266. 
Stowe, Miss, letter to, ii. 265. 
Student in the Vindalaya, i. 260. 
Street preaching condemned, i. 258. 
Sudder Adawlut, i. 58 ; Dewannee, ii. 
248. 

Sugar cane, plantations of, i. 51 ; mill 
at Boitpoor, i. 426; sugar, 431 ; canes 
and mills, 496 ; mills, ii. 63 ; extensive 
cultivation of, 288 ; assertion made in 
Parliament, ib. 
Suicide, i. 236. 
Sumeru mountain, i. 403. 
Sumatra ape, ii. 149. 
Sunday regarded by the Hindoos, i. 
419. 

Sunderbunds, i. 44 , termination of, 57. 
Sunnite sect, ii. 59 ; quarrel with Boras, 

ii. 60. 
Sunn hemp, i. 122. 
Sup ta S ati translated, i. 92. 
Supreme Court, ii. 248. 
Surat city, ii. 132 ; society, 133 ; church, 

consecrated, ib. ; school, 134. 
Surdah, silk manufactory, i. 130 ; Ita- 
lian mode of managing silk, ib. 
Suromonuggur, dispute at, i. 348 ; for- 
tress, 349 ; trout stream, 351. 
Suspension bridge, i. 405. 
Suttee described, i. 79; difference of 
opinion, 78, 79 ; described, 235 ; not 
common in Delhi, 467. 
Suioarrs levy " black mail," i. 364. 
Swinging described, i. 96. 



T. 



Tage Mahal, i. 475 ; again, ii. 287. 
Talipot palm, ii. 171. 
Tamarind tree, native opinion of, i. 
356. 

Tambresra, village, ii. 75 ; visit from the 
Raja, 76. 

Tandah,i. 371, 375; description of, 385. 

Tanjore, Rajah of, ii. 347 ; the bishop 
offers to take his son, 348 ; his sup- 
port of Christian schools, 349 ; a pu- 
pil of Schwartz, ib.. 

Tanks, i. 47. 

Tannah, town, ii. 140 ; again, 142 ; con- 
secration of church, 164. 

Taptee river, ii. 131. 

Tara-palm planting, i. 211. 

Taxes, local, i. 139 ; appropriation, ii. 
234. 

Taylor, Lieutenant Colonel, H. G. A. 
Madras, ii. 206. 



INDEX. 



391 



Tea plant in Kemaoon, 418. 

Teign.mouth, Lord, i. 113. 

Tekaria, village, ii. 128. 

Temple in a tree, 1. 189. 

Temple near Jyepoor, i. 506 ; in Cey 
Ion, ii. 193. 

Tents described, i. 291. 

Terrain unhealthy season in, i. 373; wild 
animals leave it, 374; approach to 
the forests, ib. ; " essence of owl," ib 
inhabitants, ib. ; unhealthiness, 427. 

Terriagully, pass of, i. 201. 

Thakoors in carts drawn by oxen, ii. 
20. 

Thibet, bishop of, i. 65. 
Thief in the tent, i. 565. 
Thomas St., Mount, ii. 210; Apostle 

martyred there, ib. 
Thomason, Mrs., i. 63. 
Thornton, Mr. John, letters to, ii. 236, 

300. 

Thread of caste, i. 45 ; of brahmins, 

48, 140. 
Thrush in Kemaoon, i, 407. 
Thugs described, i. 437. 
Tic Polonga, ii. 197. 
Tighree, i. 432; celebrated hunting 

ground, 433. 
Tillhier, village, i. 356. 
Tingypoor, village, i. 190. 
Tiperah, i. 146. 
Titybania, village, i. 122. 
Titty- ghur house, i. 79. 
Tobacco, i. 359. 

Todd, Mr. David, Dacca, his conduct, 
ii. 265. 

Todd, Captain, beloved by natives, ii 
34 ; at Kotah, 35 ; at Bheelwara, 37. 

Toglikabad, ruins of, i. 462. 

Tolly^s nullah, i. 57. 

Toon tree, i. 125 ; dye from, 425, 426. 

Toolsey, in Salsette, described, ii. 139. 

Traill, Mr. George William, at Almo 
rah, sends his poney, i. 387 ; meets 
the bishop, 402 ; loves and is beloved 
by natives, 411, 434. 

Travelling, manner of, ii. 285. 

Trimbuk-jee, described, i. 264 ; charac- 
ter, 265 ; escape from Tannah, 412 ; 
ii. 142. 

Travancore, accounts from, ii. 208. 
Trout in Kemaoon, i. 388 ; at Ramghur, 
395. 

Turquoises, ii. 165. 
Tusseeldar drawn by bullocks, i. 471 
Tylepoor village, i. 430. 
Tygers in Kemaoon, i. 369 ; peasantry 

fight them, 370 ; hunt, 379, 380, 381 ; 

at the Himalaya glaciers, 408 ; tamed, 



433 ; near Luneewarra, ii. 61 ; kills a 
Bheel, ib. ; hunting, 96 ; abound, 105 ; 
one crosses the path, 66. 
Tynybania village, i. 130. 
Tytler, Dr. Monghyr, i.207. 



U. 



Umeer, excursion to ii. 11 ; palace, 12. 
Umeerghur, town, ii. 39 ; manufacture, 
ib. ; besieged, ib. 



V. 



Valley of Death, i. 385. 
Vanrenen, General, Bareilly, i. 363. 
Veangodde, Ceylon, ii. 184, 196. 
Vera, village, ii. 139. 
Veddahs, tribe in Ceylon, ii. 190. 
Vepery, church at, ii. 208. 
Vidalaya, college, i. 254. 
Vignette described, ii. 252. 
Vigilant, ketch, embarbation on, ii. 134. 
Village described, i. 48 ; another, 49 ; 

round Calcutta, ii. 246. 
Viragies, college of, i. 493. 
Vishnu, incarnation of, i. 134 ; temple, 
ii! 212. 

Vishvagesa, defilement of, i. 251; sa- 
cred well, ib. 
Visitation, ii. 311. 
Vultures, 1. 189. 

W. 



Wade, Captain, Lucknow, i. 450. 
Walker, Major, Baroda, ii. 68 ; pro- 
cession of girls to thank him, ib. 
Walbeoffe, Mr. Colombo, sends cin- 
namon peelers, ii. 176. 
Wallich, Mr,, his character, i. 72; 

again, 79 ; ii. 237 ; again, 322. 
Warakapole, station, ii. 186. 
Ward, Rev. Mr., Baddagame, ii. 199 ; 

again, 315. 
Warner, Mr. Edward Lee, Furreed- 
poor, house and garden, i. 159 ; Gaol 
calendar, 161 ; library, 159. 
Wars, horrors of native, ii. 123, 124. 
Wasps, i. 270. 

Watchmen to frighten birds, i. 189. 
Water-pump, i. 126 ; bad, supposed to 

cause fever, 377 ; mill, 392. 
Wells, mode of sinking, i. 484, 485. 
Weaving, i. 425. 
West, Sir Edward, ii. 166. 
Wheat brought into Rohilcund, i. 360. 



392 



INDEX. 



Wicker-bound graves, ii. 347. 

Wild dogs, i. 409. 

Williams, Mr., Moradabad,i; 427. 

— , Mr., Delhi, 445. 

— , Mr. James, Baroda, meets 

the bishop, ii. 95 ; introduces native 
officers, 96 ; kindness, 104 ; accompa- 
nies the bishop out of Baroda, ib.; his 
hurkaru, 84. 

-, Miss,ii. 97. 



Williamson, Mr. Thomas, Kairah, 
meets the bishop, ii. 106 ; account of 
the Bheels, 107. 
Willow from Buonaparte's grave, ii. 
149. 

Wilmot, Mr., Colombo, ii. 184. 
Wilson, Mrs. i. 70, 77 ; again, ii. 229. 
Woman bathing, i. 210. 
Women of short stature, ii. 64. 



Wuerh, town, i. 490 ; suburbs, ib. ; city, 
492. 

Wynn, Right, Hon. Charles W. Wil- 
liams, Dedication, preface, iii.; letters 
to, ii. 217, 223, 250, 256, 279, 341. 



Y. 



Yak, or Thibet cow, i. 403, 408. 
Yogi, imitation of by Dandee, i. 137 ; 
tames a tyger, 433 ; hermitage, 435 ; 
at Umeer, ii. 12 ; another, 123. 

Z. 

Zalim Singh, character, ii. 32 ; offer 

to Colonel Monson, ib. 
Zemindars, i. 88 ; visit of one, i. 296. 
Zemindarries, ii. 246. 



Cr Ij O ^ S AR • 



ABBAR, water cooler. 
Acbar, native newspaper. 
Adigar, minister. 
Admee, man. 

your honour. 
Avatar, incarnation. 
Aumeen, collector of revenue. 
Aya, maid, or nurse. 

Baboo, Hindoo title, answering to our 

esquire. 
Bandy, gig or cart. 
Bangle, bracelet. 

Begah, land measure, differing all over 

India. 
Begum, princess. 
Belathee, foreign. 
Bhat, bard. 

Bheestie, water carrier. 
Bholiah, row-boat, covered over at one 
end. 

Boolee, large well. 
Boosa, camel's food. 
Brinjarries, carriers of grain. 
Bucher, young one. 
Budgerow, large cabined boat. 
Bukshish, present. 
Bullum, spear. 

Burkandaz, inferior police officer. 
Burra, great. 
Bundur, harbour. 

Bungalow, a cottage, made of bamboo 
and mats, with very projecting thatch- 
ed roof. 

Bunyan, trader. 

Cazi, Mussulman judge. 
Caranchie, native carriage. 
Charun, bard. 
Chattah, umbrella. 
Chobdar, bearer of silver mace. 
Chokey, chair, gaol, or toll-house. 
Chokeydar, watchman. 
Chopper, thatched roof. 
Chota, little. 

Choultry, Hindoo name for a resting 
place for travellers. 



Chudda, sheet, or veil. 

Chumar, leather-dresser. 

Chunarn, lime. 

Chuprassie, police guard. 

Chowry, whisk, for driving off flies. 

Clashee, tent-pitcher or manager of sails. 

Cqfilah, caravan. 

Coir, coco-nut fibre. 

Colly, creek. 

Coolie, porter. 

Coomer, crocodile. 

Coss, about two miles. 

Cummerbund, sash. 

Cutwal, magistrate. 

Dak, post. 
Dandee, boatman. 
Daroga, superintendent. 
Decoit, river pirate. 

Dewan, a prime minister, and some- 
times an agent. 

Dcwul, temple. 

Dhoolie, litter. 

Dhurna, mourning. 

Dooab, a tract of country between two 
rivers. 

Duffuldar, officer. 

Dustoor, custom, 

Durbar, a court wheie a levee is held. 
Durwan, gate-keeper. 

Fakir, religious mendicant. 
Ferinjee, European. 
Firman, royal order. 
Foujdar, commander. 

Gaowala, cow-man. 

Ghat, in the east, a landing place ; in 
the west and south, a pass of a 
mountain, or a range of mountains. 

Ghee, rancid butter. 

Ghureele purndar, poor man's provider. 

Gool, small channel. 

Goomashta, agent, or master. 

Gossain, Hindoo hermit. 

Gram, a kind of vetch. 

Guicwar, sovereign. 



394 



GLOSSARY, 



Hackery, native cart. 
Hagie, saint. 
Hamaul, bearer. 
Hanjar, Persian scymitar. 
Havildar, officer in the array. 
Hooka, pipe. 
Hafhee, elephant. 

Hoolee, a famous Hindoo festival to 
commemorate the beginning of a 
new year ; it is held in the vernal 
equinox. 

Howdah, seat on an elephant. 

Hurkaru, messenger. 

Hurrumzadu, rascal. 

Huzoor, your presence. 

Jaghire, estate assigned by Govern- 
ment. 

Jaghiredar, person holding a jaghire. 
Jeel, swamp, or shallow lake. 
Jemautdar, officer in the army, head 

man of a village, or house-servant. 
Jin, saddle. 
Juldee, quick. 
Jungle, thicket. 

# 

Kalean, Persian pipe. 
Kamdar, governor. 
Kayt, writer. 
Khansaman, steward. 
Khelat, honorary dress. 
Khitmutgar, footman. 
• Kibla, the point where Mussulmans 
turn to pray. 
Killedar, governor of a fort. 
Kincob, brocade.- 

Lac, one hundred thousand. 
Lebada, cloak. 
Log, people. 
Lugana, to make fast. 
Lungoor, baboon. 

Malik, master. 

Maharaja, great king. 

Manjee, steersman. 

Marabout, holy man. 

Meidan, plain. 

Messala, mess. 

Mobarak, lucky. 

Mohout, elephant-driver. 

Mohur, a gold coin worth sixteen rupees 

in Bengal. 
Moodslier, native magistrate. 
Moonshee, teacher. 
Moonee, inspired person. 
Moullah, Mahometan priest. 
Muktar, chamberlain or prime-minister. 
Musnud, throne. 



Mussaul, torch. 
Mussaulchie, torch-bearer. 
Mut, obelisk. 
Mutwala, drunkard. 

Naick, corporal. 

Nacoda, captain of a vessel. 

Nagari, great kettle-drum. 

Nullah, brook, or small branch of a 

river. 
Nuddee, streamlet. 
Nuzzur, offering. 

Paddy, rice in the husk. 

Pagoda, Hindoo place of worship. 

Palkee, palanqueen. 

Panchway, passage-boat. 

Pawn, the nut of the areca palm lime, 

and spice, wrapped in a betel leaf, 

and chewed by the natives. 
Peeta, string. 
Peishwa, sovereign. 
Pergunnah, the largest division of land 

in a zemindary. 
Peon, messenger. 
Petarrah, wicker basket. 
Pettah, native town near a fort. 
Pice, copper coin. 
Polail, head man of a village. 
Pooja, worship. 
Poor, town. 
Pucka, brick. 
Pulwar, large boat. 
Punchaet, jury of five men. 
Punka, large wooden board suspended 

from the ceiling, and waved to and 

fro by ropes : also a fan. 
Puranas, Indian mythological poems. 
Purwannu, Government order. 

Rais, master of a vessel. 
Rannee, Hindoo princess. 
Routee, small tent. 
Ruksut, dismissal. 
Ruit, car. 
Ryut, peasant. 

Sahib, lord. 

Saees, groom. 

Sa?'bann, camel-driver. 

Seer, weight of about two pound. 

Sherabdar, butler. 

Serai, Mussulman place of rest for tra- 
vellers. 
Serang, master of a vessel. 
Singh, lion. 

Sircar, governor, also a bead servant. 
Sitringee, tent carpet. 
Sirdar, head man or minister. 



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